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Japanese Communist Party Central Committee Chair FUWA Tetsuzo visited China from Aug. 26-30 at the invitation of the Communist Party of China. In Beijing, he held a summit meeting with CPC General Secretary Jiang Zemin (president of China) to discuss a wide-range of international issues and gave a lecture on "Lenin and the Market Economy" at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Japanese Communist Party Central Committee Chair FUWA Tetsuzo and Communist Party of China General Secretary Jiang Zemin (Chinese president) held summit talks on August 28 at Zhongnanhai in Beijing. Following is the translation of the gist of remarks Fuwa made at the summit (as reported in the September 5 issue of Akahata) :
After exchanging greetings, CPC General Secretary Jiang Zemin said, "Welcome to China. This is my third meeting with JCP CC Chair Fuwa. The international situation has greatly changed since we last met. May I ask you first to state you views?"
JCP CC Chair Fuwa made the following points:
Fuwa: I used our 1998 meeting, which was held shortly after the normalization of JCP-CPC relations, to propose the "Five Principles for Japan-China Relations ." (*). The JCP will maintain these principles as we make efforts to establish peaceful Japan-China relations as well as peaceful and stable relations between other Asian countries. Today, I would like to discuss the issue of peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
(*) 'Five Principles for Japan-China Relations' are:
(1) Japan will strictly reflect on its past war of aggression;
(2) Japan will stick by the "one-China" policy in international relations;
(3) Japan and China will stand firm on mutual non-aggression and relations based on peaceful coexistence;
(4) Japan and China will solve all problems by peaceful negotiations; and
(5) Japan and China will cooperate with each other for peace in Asia and the rest of the world.
Northeast Asia is made up of Japan, China, and the Korean Peninsula. Throughout the 20th century, relations between the nations of these three areas were far from being stable. As we have entered the 21st century, establishing peaceful relations between Japan, China, and the Korean Peninsula will be a great contribution to the peace in Asia and the rest of the world.
Two days ago (August 26), I discussed this issue in detail with CPC International Department Head Dai Bingguo. I stated Japan's problems, our concerns about the Korean Peninsula, and the role which we want China in the 21st century to play. So I will not repeat the points I made then, but I would like to stress that my hope is to develop mutual cooperation in order to make the tripartite relations more peaceful.
Fuwa: I agree with General Secretary Jiang Zemin's view that the world has undergone significant changes in the last several years. While calls are increasing for a peaceful and safer world, the peace is increasingly threatened. I discussed this issue extensively with Dai Bingguo, CPC International Department head. So I will be as brief as I can in focusing on the immediate issues.
The CPC's recent call for a "new security concept" about the new world, which emerged after an era of U.S.-Soviet confrontation, has caught my attention. Its key elements are the establishment of a framework of peace without military alliances and the observance of internationally accepted rules. It set the greatest store on the need to abide by the United Nations Charter above all international rules and regulations. Indeed, if a country has no hesitation in violating the rules set by the U.N. Charter, and if the contemporary international community tacitly approves the breach, world peace will be lost.
We cannot but pay close attention to the emerging danger of violating international rules in the international developments subsequent to the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York.
To counter the terrorist attack, the United States has opted to wage a war of retaliation against Afghanistan. We agreed on the need to fight against and eliminate terrorism, but did not agree with the resort to a retaliatory war as a means of accomplishing it. Some argued that the U.S. retaliatory war could be justified as action in "self-defense" on the grounds that the terrorist attacks on New York can be regarded as an armed attack and that it is almost certain that the forces involved in the attack are spotted in Afghanistan.
Fuwa: However, in the course of developments following the war, the U.S. government began talking about plans to attack Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," which marked an abrupt change in focus. U.S. President Bush in his State of the Union address in January openly denounced these countries by name without showing evidence that they have sponsored the terrorists or are developing weapons of mass destruction. Indeed, he didn't show any evidence that would support that these countries are sponsoring the terrorists or carrying out acts of terrorism. The only thing the U.S. government has is animosity and suspicions toward these countries. Launching military attacks only on the grounds that they are suspected of doing such things amounts to a preemptive strike, which the U.N. Charter prohibits in clear terms. In his speech at the commencement at West Point on June 1, 2002, President Bush officially stated that preemption is necessary.
FUWA: It is important to note two recent U.S. reports: the Nuclear Posture Review released in January, and the Defense Report published in August, the Bush administration's first.
The Nuclear Posture Review listed seven countries as targets of U.S. preemptive nuclear strikes. When I read it, I thought that it represented the most up-to-date military strategy that the United States had worked out after many years of study since the late 1980s as a military strategy for the post-Soviet Union era. As targets of U.S. nuclear strikes, the NPR added Libya, Syria, China and Russia to the three "axis of evil" countries.
The NPR supposes three contingencies for which the United States must be prepared. They are immediate, potential, and unexpected contingencies. China was categorized as a country that could be involved in an immediate or potential contingency. It also says that a contingency involving Russia, "while plausible, is not expected."
The NPR stopped short of providing convincing reason why China is categorized as a country that could be involved in an "immediate" or "potential" contingency. But I did find the answer in the U.S. Defense Report in August.
The U.S. Defense Report states that "a broad arc of instability that stretches from the Middle East to Northeast Asia" is very important. It also says, "In particular, the possibility exists that a military competitor with a substantial resource base will emerge in the region." It warns against the emergence of a power that may be on an equal footing with the United States and thereby threaten the United States. No country but China in this region can be conceived of as such a country.
I think it is important to note that this Defense Report was released at a time when a U.S. strike against Iraq was seen as imminent. Thus, the logic used to justify a U.S. right to make a preemptive strike against Iraq is now applied to China. In other words, if China comes to be seen by the United States as a "military competitor," the United States may exercise the right to a preemptive strike against China.
Fuwa: We are united in yearning for international rules to be established for stable peace in the 21st century. At the center of such rules should be the U.N. Charter, which allows nations to use military force only in self-defense. If a country carries out a preemptive attack in violation of the U.N. Charter, and if the international community condones such acts, all our hopes for the 21st century will be completely shattered. Then, all nations would be called upon to act and decide on their strategies on the premise that the world is like that.
I read the February 3 Xinhua News Agency critique of U.S. President Bush's "axis of evil" statement. It was entitled, "The so-called 'axis of evil' statement is fictitious." I appreciated the critique in that it precisely pointed out the dangerous nature of the issue. In the course of subsequent developments, I have come to recognize the present situation as a crucial one in which the major question is whether we can defend the international rules for peace.
Fuwa: We must also look at the fact that the U.S. preemptive strike strategy, which is based on the "axis of evil" threat, is connected with the danger of nuclear weapons being used. The U.S. "Nuclear Posture Review" report was intended to declare that the United States is ready to use nuclear weapons in its preemptive strikes. Since the end of World War II, no nuclear weapons state has ever been so eager to openly discuss plans to use nuclear weapons.
The United States once planned to use nuclear weapons in the Korean War. It also secretly considered using nuclear weapons in 1958 in a conflict over Chinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu. These are stated in declassified U.S. foreign relations documents. But I am sure that no past U.S. administration has been as brazen as the present one in publicly stating the intention of using nuclear weapons.
However, these U.S. moves are facing opposition from increasing international opinion calling for nuclear weapons to be abolished. In 2000, international opinion pushed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference into adopting a unanimous document stating that all parties to the treaty, including nuclear weapons states, agreed to make efforts to eliminate all nuclear arsenals.
In our previous talks four years ago, I proposed as an urgent need to get nuclear weapons abolished, and General Secretary Jiang Zemin stated that China is a country that has consistently called for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Thus, there are two currents over nuclear weapons and two aspects of the present-day situation. One is a current represented by the U.S. Bush administration which is quick to think about using nuclear weapons, and the other is the growing current that calls for the elimination of nuclear weapons. This current in favor of nuclear weapons elimination is very important.
I would like to take this occasion to express my gratitude to China for sending its delegation to the World Conference against A & H Bombs held every August in Japan to take up a role in the international movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons. This also represents a new change taking place in the World Conference. The World Conference against A & H Bombs used to be attended mainly by representatives of peace organizations. But the past several World Conferences have been characterized by the visible presence of government representatives. This year's World Conference was attended by Egypt's vice foreign minister, Malaysia's disarmament ambassador, and diplomats from Bangladesh and South Africa. It received messages from heads of state of Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Bangladesh, South Africa, New Zealand, Sweden, and Thailand.
Fuwa: I note that broader common action is taking shape in the effort to defend the rules established in the U.N. Charter and oppose the use of nuclear weapons, and that developing such action is our major international task in the 21st century.
This common effort is antagonistic toward the U.S. plans. However, unlike in the past, it is not necessary for us to stand firmly for "opposition to U.S. imperialism." The task now is to work in defense of international rules and build a world order based on them. We must be resolved to block any attempt to break the rules. We must develop a movement that will not tolerate any nation that clings to nuclear weapons or seeks to use nuclear weapons.
Specifically on the question of nuclear weapons, I would like to point out that the world is now earnestly waiting for nuclear weapon states to come up with initiatives for achieving the elimination of nuclear weapons. I would like also to emphasize that this is what we now need.
Since the JCP-CPC summit talks four years ago, we have been doing our utmost to develop our relations with Asian and Islamic countries. This effort has produced results. As I said, national government representatives' participation in the World Conference against A & H Bombs is proof of this.
There are many things I would like to talk about, including JCP activities in this field, but I feel I must not take too much of the limited time.
I would be glad to have General Secretary Jiang Zemin speak at this time.
After Fuwa's remarks Jiang said, "I've attentively listened to you," and stated the CPC views on the issues raised by JCP CC Chair Fuwa.
Jiang Zemin first discussed the issue of the Korean Peninsula in connection with Northeast Asian peace. He said: "China's attitude toward North-South Korea relations is that we support every step that would help promote a peaceful solution but oppose anything that would militate against it."
Referring to other international affairs, he noted: "Chair Fuwa raised the issues of respect for the United Nations and a ban on nuclear weapons," and gave his views on the U.N. Charter and the attempt to attack Iraq in violation of the Charter as follows:
"China as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council respects U.N. decisions on every activity. We have called for the Gulf crisis, Kosovo conflict, and other questions to be resolved in the United Nations. However, some countries do not respect any U.N. role and are acting in disregard of the United Nations. As a consequence, we now face a tough question, the question of a military attack on Iraq. China is clear about it. China is opposed to military attacks on Iraq. We are striving to find a solution through peaceful discussions. At present, the majority of governments throughout the world are against such military attacks."
Jiang Zemin expressed deep concern about U.S. government officials stating, "The United Nations is no longer needed."
On the question of nuclear weapons, he emphasized that China's consistent position is one of "no first use of nuclear weapons and their total abolition."
Jiang also stated his views on China-U.S. relations, China-Japan relations, and the world communist movement. Referring to the CPC 16th Congress scheduled for November, he said:
"Our party has made the date for the next CPC known to the world. It's going to be a very significant conference as the first CPC Congress in the new century."
Recalling the discussion they had at their summit four years on the issue of the world and socialism, Fuwa stated that the difference in attitude toward the issue of the former Soviet Union has decided the outcome of the movement in each country. He went on to say, "Globally, the movement has bright prospects."
At the end of their 80-minute discussion, they made the following statements:
Fuwa: Under the new circumstances in the new century, I hope that our two parties will continue to work on their respective tasks. The 21st century has just started and I hope we will have more chances to meet and talk.
Jiang: I think that the prospect on the whole is bright. I am convinced that socialism will make further progress in the present-day world. I wish the JCP great success."
(End)
(Translation by Japan Press Service)
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