The Japanese Communist Party on Saturday revised its party platform to criticize the Chinese government for strengthening acts of hegemony.

The revision to the JCP's program was adopted unanimously at the party's 28th Congress, held in the city of Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan. The party program was last revised in 2004.

In a speech preceding the vote on the revision, JCP Chairman Kazuo Shii touched on the Chinese Communist Party's alleged human rights violations, saying, "Such actions are unrelated to socialism, and they are not worthy of the name 'Communist Party.'"

The revised platform avoids mentioning China by name, but says that increasing hegemony among several major powers run counter to global peace and progress. 

The program also called for the abolition of nuclear power as well as the achievement of a society in which all genders are treated equally.

The party convention also adopted a resolution to aim for the establishment of a coalition government of current opposition parties by 2022, which will mark the centennial of the party's founding.

The resolution said the JCP will not stick to its unique policies about the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the country's Imperial system if the envisaged coalition government is created, apparently in light of concerns held by other major opposition parties.

The party pledged to aim for winning 8.5 million votes under the proportional representation system in the next House of Representatives election. Lawmakers for the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, are elected through a combination of single-seat constituency and proportional representation systems.

The JCP also decided to retain Shii as its chairman and Akira Koike as head of its secretariat. Tomoko Tamura, a member of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, was named the party's policy chief.

JIJI Press