New Year's Appeal of the Japan Revolutionary Communist League

January 1, 2023

Chapter II
The aggressive war on China: The explosion of the imperialist world war today

(1) The Kishida government's desperate rush toward a massive military buildup and a war state

On December 16 last year, the Kishida government made an outrageous cabinet decision on "Three Security Documents": National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Defense Buildup Program. The biggest historic change in Japan's postwar security policy has been forced through without even a token debate in the Diet--a sort of self-coup.

The National Security Strategy states, "the strategic guidance and policies (for fundamental reinforcement of Japan's defense capabilities) under the NSS will dramatically transform Japan's national security policy after the end of WWII from the aspect of its execution." It also declares, "China's current external stance, military activities, and other activities have become a matter of serious concern for Japan and the international community, and present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge . . . to which Japan should respond with its comprehensive national power and in cooperation with its ally, like-minded countries and others." This is tantamount to designating China an enemy country.

The National Defense Strategy, renamed from the National Defense Program Guidelines, defines "counterstrike capabilities" as capabilities that "enable Japan to mount effective counterstrikes against the opponent's territory"--capabilities to attack China's land, territorial waters, and airspace. On this basis, the Defense Buildup Program includes provisions such as "by five years from now, Japan will strengthen its defense capabilities to the point at which Japan is able to take the primary responsibility for dealing with invasions against its nation, and disrupt and defeat such threats" and "the 15th Brigade (in Okinawa) will be reorganized into a division in order to strengthen the defense architecture in the southwestern region." In short, the program is to create a system capable of waging war on China within the next five years.

Japanese imperialism is, however, a fiscally bankrupt state, which has no resources to double its military spending. Even if the country were to endlessly issue government bonds as it did before and during WWII, the Japanese economy would collapse, causing further inflation, higher interest rates, a bond crash and financial collapse. Wholesale dismantling of social programs and tax hikes would cause great resentment among workers. Already, when Kishida uttered the phrase "the responsibility of citizens to take on the heavy burden," anger and protest flooded, and his approval rate fell below 30 percent. Yet he has no choice but to push through a massive military buildup that doubles military budget and creates a war system.

What on earth is driving the Japanese imperialists and Kishida? Why are U.S.-Japanese imperialists pushing so vehemently for an aggressive war on China? And what is the war in Ukraine, which is still raging and unceasingly expanding in parallel with this movement toward a war on China? And what stance should the working class take on this war? It is crucial to make it clear as our understanding of the current era in order to win a huge explosion of anti-war struggle in the decisive battle of 2023.

(2) Eruption of a world war: the death agony of imperialism

The war in Ukraine since February 24 last year has expanded into a de facto war between NATO and Russia, with the U.S. imperialism as the main actor, and the process of the United States' rush to an aggressive war on China is advancing increasingly in line with it.

More precisely, the imperialist aggressive war against China--a world war--of which the war in Ukraine is a part, is in the process of developing into an ever more massive explosion. It is plunging the world into the terrifying situation of an imminent third world war that will turn Europe, East Asia and the Indo-Pacific region into a single theater of operation, while Ukraine is becoming a hellish battleground in every sense of the word.

This crisis of world war has arisen from the ultimate crisis of imperialism, which has basically been unable to recover from the Great Recession triggered by the "Lehman Shock" of 2008, culminating in the Covid-19 Crisis and the Great Neoliberal Collapse. The unprecedented measures to combat the depression since 2008, based on extreme monetary easing and massive fiscal stimulus, led to another economic bubble, an even more extreme concentration of wealth in a handful of bourgeoisies and the expansion of poverty among the working population, the snowballing national debts and the terrible collapse of the minimal social care infrastructure, including health care and social security. From here, the angry protests of working class and oppressed peoples spread around the world, including the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S., while counter-revolutions, like Trump's, also emerged, organizing the desperation of the masses. And the pandemic since 2020 has brought to light the social disintegration and devastation brought about by neoliberalism. Now, the only way for imperialism to survive is to fight each other over markets, resources, spheres of influence and territories, to foment xenophobia and nationalism, and to go to war.

"Seizure of territory and subjugation of other nations, the ruining of competing nations and the plunder of their wealth, distracting the attention of the working masses from the internal political crises in Russia, Germany, Britain and other countries, disuniting and nationalist stultification of the workers, and the extermination of their vanguard so as to weaken the revolutionary movement of the proletariat ." (The War and the Russian Social-Democracy, Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 21)

In order to do so, there was no other way but to wage an aggressive war and an imperialist war. Now the biggest "competitor" for U.S. and other imperialist countries today is Chinese Stalinism, which has grown so huge that it could shake even the world domination of U.S. imperialism. The process of imperialist war defined by Lenin in his work, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism and other works, is now advancing in precisely this form: from the crisis of imperialism and the sharpening of its contradictions to a war of aggression and a world war. To grasp unflinchingly the main focus of the present situation described above is the fundamental basis for our understanding of the current era, which helps clarify the revolutionary party's and workers' attitude and tasks towards war.

The war is a continuation of imperialist politics

The ruling class, the bourgeoisie, always presents the situation as follows: "A dangerous invading state has appeared in the peaceful world. Therefore, it has become necessary to deter or repel such aggression," justifying war. It is pretended that "peaceful Japan" is unilaterally threatened by China, North Korea, Russia and other countries, and the history of the Japanese Empire, which once sent millions of troops across Asia to wage aggressive wars, is erased. It is also concealed that Japan is allied with U.S. imperialism, which has the largest military and nuclear capabilities in the world, maintains the Self-Defense Forces' and U.S. military bases allover Japan, and has been repeatedly engaging in brutal military provocations against China and North Korea under the guise of "deterrence." The war is talked about as if it had nothing to do with the heinous imperialist policies, the attempts of constitutional revision pushed forward in collusion even with the Unification Church and others, the suppression of the revolutionary party and labor unions, the impoverishment of youth and women, the tax hike and dismantling of social security, and the numerous irregularities and corruption among politicians.

"We have been attacked and are defending ourselves," "the violators of the peace . . . should be properly dealt with," "find out who started it and punish him." For them, there are "only" attackers and defenders. They "only" defeat "the enemies of the fatherland"!

Lenin called "most primitive , , , 'who-started it' theory" in The Collapse of the Second International (Collected Works, Vol. 21). The strength of this ruling class war propaganda is its simplicity like fables and its sheer material volume that can be pumped out like a flood with huge sums of money. It is, however, a just trick, a fraud, a lie. In response, we must thoroughly expose the truth: "war is simply the continuation of politics by other [i.e., violent] means" (Clausewitz). That it is a continuation of imperialist domestic and foreign policies, as a continuation of a politics firmly linked to the interests of a handful of the imperialist bourgeoisie, by violent means. This truth coincides with the daily life, experience and intuition of the working class, and so, once we have generated working class mass awareness of these facts, it becomes the force that triggers a huge explosion of anti-war struggle. However, campaign of exposure alone is not enough. Above all, a genuine struggle must be waged from everywhere for the turning of this war into a revolutionary civil war.

(3) How should we understand the class nature of the war in Ukraine?

At the JRCL's eighth Congress in February 2022, we have characterized the war in Ukraine: "the total great collapse of neoliberalism and of the post-WWII World System has begun to turn into a world war." It also made it clear, "(this war) is taking place, closely linked with the situation of the U.S. imperialist aggressive war on China" and "the confrontation between the U.S. and China and the enormity of U.S. imperialism's war on China is what has at one stroke made the Ukrainian crisis (since 2014) into an outright war." And while all forces joined in the chorus of "fight against Putin's war", "support the war in defense of Ukraine," the JRCL exposed this war as "U.S. imperialism's war." Whether we see this as "an explosion of imperialist war today" or as "a war in defense of Ukraine against Russian aggression (a war of liberation in defense of national freedom and independence)" is exactly the demarcation between the path of Lenin's Bolsheviks or the path of falling into the social-chauvinism of the Second International.

The war in Ukraine must be seen as follows:

First, it is a clash between the combined forces of U.S.-European imperialism and the Ukrainian Zelensky regime and the ruling forces of Russia led by Putin, both of which are enemies of the working class. In Russia, the Putin regime is propped up by forces based on state enterprises controlled by the former Stalinist military, security apparatus and state bureaucracy, as well as the emerging conglomerates (oligarchs) who, together with them, control huge monopolies in the oil, gas and military industries.

Second, although the war began directly with an invasion by Russian forces last February 24, it did not start "suddenly" but was prepared by U.S. and other imperialist powers for over 20 years. The war was triggered by (1) the consolidation of the sphere of influence of the U.S. and European imperialists in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, (2) the eastward expansion of NATO, (3) the establishment of a pro-Western government in Ukraine which was the subject of the biggest struggle between the U.S.-European imperialists and Russia, through a coup in 2014, in which U.S. imperialism was instrumental, (4) the annexation of Crimea by Russia in response to these measures and the imposition and continuation of sanctions by U.S.-European imperialism against Russia. (5) the expansion of military aid and arms supplies to Ukraine by U.S. imperialism, the integration of the Ukrainian military into NATO--Ukraine's de facto NATO membership.

Looking at this series of historical developments, it is clear which side, the U.S. -NATO or Russia, has taken the lead in preparing for today's war. First, there is an overwhelming imbalance of power, both economic and military, between Russia, the successor to the collapsed and bankrupt USSR Stalinism, and U.S.-European imperialism. It means that the major promotor of this war is U.S.

Thirdly, the war in Ukraine is a part of the US imperialist aggressive war against China--WWIII. Even after the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the U.S. imperialists have continued placing "dealing with China" at the top of their war policy. The National Security Strategy (NSS) released by the Biden government in last October states that the U.S. will "out-compete China and constrain Russia," noting that "(China) is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that objective." It goes on to say, "This decade will be decisive, in setting the terms of our competition with the PRC" . In other words, the U.S. is prepared for a war on which China to maintain the U.S.-led international order, i.e., the U.S.-centered imperialist system of world domination (a war that will last "ten years"), and the U.S. positioned Ukraine war against Russia as a part of this war. It can be said that the strategy is aims to first weaken Russia thoroughly, prevent or break the Sino-Russian alliance or coalition, and then make every effort in the aggressive war on China.

Fourth, as long as the Ukraine war has the above-mentioned characteristics, it will be driven more and more into a quagmire and brutality. It will never bring liberation or peace to the Ukrainian people or to the working people of the world. There will never be any guarantee that the continuation of the hellish long war and war of attrition between the U.S.-European imperialism and former Stalinist Russia would not escalate into a direct clash between Russian and NATO forces and a nuclear war.

It is absolutely impossible to end the war in Ukraine by supporting the US imperialism's war, the Zelensky regime's war. It cannot definitely be terminated by defending Putin's Russia. The only way is to unite with the working class of Ukraine and Russia and the whole world, to wage an international anti-war struggle from an Anti-Imperialist-Anti-Stalinist standpoint, and to overthrow the whole imperialist world domination. The working class of Ukraine will necessarily move in this direction, and its struggle has already begun. Let us strongly affirm this and organize anti-war struggles, under the following slogans:

• No more war in Ukraine! US imperialism, NATO and Putin's Russia, hand off Ukraine Now!

• Oppose all imperialist counties' military support and war participation, which escalate the Ukraine war!

• Oppose the war of the U.S.-European imperialism, Zelensky regime and Putin's Russia from the standpoint of the working class and promote solidarity with the struggle of the workers and people in Ukraine for their genuine liberation!

• Support and solidarity with the anti-war struggles of the Russian workers, people, soldiers and their families!

• Working class of Ukraine, Russia and the whole world, unite against the Ukraine war and the war of aggression against China--a world war--and strengthen solidarity for the Anti-Imperialist-Anti-Stalinist World Revolution!

(4) Aggressive war to overthrow Chinese Stalinism for the US imperialist world domination

We have to clarify more clearly the true character of above-mentioned U.S imperialist aggressive war on China--a world war--, of which the war in Ukraine is a part and the beginning, as "a contemporaneous form of explosion of imperialist war--a world war--, under the direction that was discussed at JRCL's eighth Congress and the 29th National Committee. This is the core question of the Anti-Imperialist-Anti-Stalinist world revolutionary strategy for the 21st century.

"The decisive impasse of the post-WWII world system of imperialism and Stalinism, and the outburst of contradictions of U.S. imperialism--the overwhelming center of the post-WWII world system--has been driven to cause the outbreak of imperialist war, which inevitably takes the form of an aggressive war on Stalinist China--a war of redivision and reorganization of the sphere of influence," (Takeo Shimizu, Study note of "The Collapse of the Second International," Communist, no. 214). This (the ongoing U.S. aggression on China) is the determining factor of the entire world situation today.

The victorious Chinese Revolution in 1949 after the civil war against the Kuomintang and the war of resistance against Japan since 1930s, overthrew the big colonial system that had been propping up imperialist world domination, through a national liberation war, revolutionary war, that overwhelmingly organized and mobilized the peasantry. But for the final victory, it needed the completion of the world revolution, combined with the proletarian revolution in the imperialist homelands to fundamentally overthrow imperialist world domination. The Chinese Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong, however, abandoned this and tried to force the construction of "socialism in one country" in a semi-colonial, backward country under imperialist encirclement, whose economy was largely based on backward agriculture. The country quickly went bankrupt, and Mao attempted to overcome this crisis with the "Great Cultural Revolution," a movement of huge mass mobilization under the authority of the individual worship that plunged China's economy and society into the abyss of devastation and exhaustion. Deng Xiaoping, who came to power after Mao's death in 1976, actively accepted the U.S. imperialist bid to join the system of US-China collusion (an attempt to gain China on US side in the US-Soviet Union confrontation). and began "reform and opening-up," accepting imperialist funds and technology to overcome this crisis of the collapse of the Stalinist regime in China.

From that point on, huge amounts of capital from the U.S., European and Japanese imperialism poured into China like a raging wave. The depression of 1974-1975 drastically revealed the surplus capital, surplus productive forces of imperialist countries, which in search of its outlet one imperialist country after another moved its production facilities to China to expand its investment and reap high profits. They used this Chinese takeover as a crucial lever to advance the neoliberal assaults in their own countries--pay cuts, precarization, privatization, outsourcing and union busting.

Faced with the crises of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chinese Stalinism has sought to prolong its life by continuing economic growth through further marketization and the introduction of foreign capital from imperialist countries. U.S. and other imperialists, had hoped to deeply integrate China into the framework of the imperialist world economy, and thereby schemed to shake and eventually overthrow the Chinese Stalinist regime itself. However, the CCP has strengthened at home its political and ideological control in parallel with economic growth. It made Chinese economy more and more "capitalist" and at the same time strengthened its power to maintain the Stalinist regime. Moreover, China's massive stimulus package of four trillion yuan after the 2008 global economic crisis and the further deepening of the imperialist economies' dependence on China have resulted in pushing China up to the second largest economy in the world after the U.S. while still maintaining the Stalinist regime. Thus, a state with a high production capacity, a high technological level and a global expansionist power has emerged.

It should be clear, however, that China is "by no means imperialism as the 'highest stage of capitalism' and therefore not an imperialist state in the sense of a bourgeois dictatorship dominated by finance capital monopolies and its basic and broad principle of action is the promotion of 'construction of socialism in one country' and the maintenance and defense of the Stalinist state system dominated by the Chinese Communist Party bureaucracy" (the Report to the 29th National Committee of the JRCL). Stalinism arose where the victorious revolution was forced into isolation by imperialist encirclement and pressure, where it capitulated to this difficulty, abandoned world revolution and made "socialist construction in one country" its end in itself. It is forced, on the one hand, to seek "peaceful coexistence" with imperialism for its own systemic survival, while on the other hand, under the siege and pressure of imperialism, which has basically survived and continues their domination of the world, Stalinism cannot help but take active--counteractive in essence--military and foreign policy against imperialist powers.

However, Stalinism, which has abandoned world revolution, has no principle, no motive, no power at all to overthrow imperialism and to create a new world. Also, today's Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping's regime can only propagate patriotism and nationalism, such as the "Chinese dream = the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," which has nothing to do with the emancipation of the working class = communism. And under the increasingly critical and bankrupt socialism-in-one-country line ("Great Modern Socialist Country"), it has established Xi Jinping dictatorship à la Stalin and is heading for the repression of the working people at home and at the same time military counteraction against U.S. imperialism over Taiwan. In the end, it will become easy prey for US and other imperialism, which seek to prolong their lives through war.

The remaining Stalinist regime, China, with its inherent and fundamental contradictions as Stalinism, cannot develop further, nor can it become the center of the world to replace the US imperialism and create a new world system. However, for U.S. imperialists, which is already in a state of evident decline, the existence of Chinese Stalinism, which has become a great power, is nothing but an entity that shakes the world domination of the United States and severely accelerates its downfall. Chinese Stalinism is no longer basically compatible with the survival of U.S. imperialism as the center of the world. And U.S. imperialism has been driven to the point where it has no choice but to overthrow Chinese Stalinism in order to maintain its own world domination and their own existence as imperialism.

(5) With the imperialist plunder of Taiwan, the U.S. imperialist aggressive war on China has begun.

The Taiwan issue has become the focal point of the US aggression against China. The resumption of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China in January 1979 was based on the basic premise that the U.S. would officially confirm that there was only one China and that Taiwan belonged to China. Moreover, when the U.S.-China Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan (Government of the Republic of China) expired due to the formal diplomatic breakup between the U.S. and Taiwan, the U.S. imperialists tried to maintain substantial U.S.-Taiwan relations by continuation of certain arms sales to Taiwan etc. under the Taiwan Relations Act. However, when Lee Teng-hui began to move toward independence in the 1990s, the U.S. imperialists did not actively promote this policy. it. Also in military terms, the United States long maintained its ambiguity about whether the U.S. forces would intervene militarily in the event of China's move for armed unification of Taiwan.

Now the landscape has changed. On September 18, shortly before the Chinese Communist Party Congress last October, Biden was asked in a television program whether the U.S. military would intervene in Taiwan in an emergency. His answer was clear: "If there is indeed an unprecedented attack, yes." U.S. military and diplomatic officials have also confirmed Biden's remark as the official U.S. government position, dropping the so-called "strategic ambiguity." The current US policy aims to separate Taiwan from mainland China. While on the surface it "does not support Taiwan independence," it actually promotes it in every possible way. Moreover, the U.S. imperialists are fully aware of the importance of the Taiwan issue to for China and dare to focus attack on escalate it vigorously.

Against this backdrop, the visit of the then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan on August 2 last year was, from the Chinese point of view, nothing but U.S. fresh push for Taiwan independence. The Taiwan Policy Act, passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Sept. 14, unilaterally abrogated the U.S.-China agreement in place since 1970s and virtually recognized Taiwan as an independent country. Deliberations on this part of the bill, which concerns Taiwan's international standing, will begin in the Congress this January. Last December, the Defense Authorization Bill 2023 was signed into law, providing $10 billion in military aid to Taiwan over the next five years. The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which has been supplied in large quantities to Ukraine, will soon be sold to Taiwan as well, this time without range limitations. This is a blatant expression of a fundamental shift in U.S. imperialist policy toward Taiwan, a move that could be described as a de facto declaration of war on China.

More importantly, Taiwan's position in current global economy is critically important. Today, no industrial production would be possible without semiconductors, from ordinary household appliances to AI-related ultra-high-tech fields, and Taiwan has been basically the world's sole semiconductor supplier. Led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Taiwanese companies account for nearly 70% of global semiconductor production (90% for high-end ones). China's economy would be unthinkable without semiconductor supplies from Taiwan, and China is the largest export destination for Taiwan. In terms of economy, China and Taiwan are inextricably linked. Neither military procurement and nor war-making is possible without advanced technology supported by semiconductors. By the policy of cutting this relationship between Taiwan and China, the U.S. imperialists are cornering China and trying to secure Taiwan as a U.S. imperialist sphere of influence. This means that the U.S. imperialists will hold China in a death grip, and there is no greater provocation for war against China than this action. In this way, the US imperialists have already launched an aggressive war on China.

In response, the Xi Jinping government is desperately seeking to build up its own high-end semiconductor manufacturing system, but the U.S. imperialists are doing everything they can to prevent that. In October, the Biden administration announced measures to comprehensively regulate trade in advanced technologies such as supercomputers and artificial intelligence with China, including high-end chips, their manufacturing technology, design software and human resources, with a licensing system. Japan and the Netherlands, the world's top suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, are required to restrict their exports to China. Undeterred, China filed a complaint against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The U.S. imperialists have abandoned their own advocacy of "free trade" and "international rules," to defeat China, resorting to any means possible.

Moreover, the U.S. imperialists are also promoting the siting of semiconductor plants in U.S. homeland and have begun construction of a TSMC plant in Arizona, with additional investment announced on December 6 for the construction of a second plant in the same state. In anticipation of an aggressive war on China, the U.S. imperialists are trying to create a system that will ensure semiconductor supplies to the U.S. even when Taiwan, with an intense concentration of semiconductor production facilities, becomes a battlefield.

Anti-Imperialist-Anti-Stalinist World Revolution

Amid this intense war pressure from U.S. imperialism, the Xi Jinping regime's third term has begun at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China last October. Immediately thereafter, Xi Jinping was severely shaken by the collapse of the "zero covid policy" and the revolt of the Chinese people as its result, as well as by the renewed outbreak of the covid-19 infection and the rapid progress of the economic crisis. The exacerbation of these systemic crises in China will undoubtedly drive the Xi Jinping government's counteractive military and foreign policy toward the United States over the Taiwan issue. Already, Taiwan has become a matter of life and death for Xi Jinping, which he cannot ignore in the run-up to the next Party Congress in five years.

In terms of the U.S., war preparations are being actually accelerated by government officials and senior military officers claiming one after another that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be possible "within five years" or even "within one or two years." The Kishida government's unprecedented military buildup, by the cabinet decision on the Three Security Documents and the ruling LDP's call for "drastic strengthening of defense capabilities within five years," is precisely the desperate warmongering defined by the U.S. imperialist aggressive war on China--a world war.

In the year 2023, the crises of both imperialism and Stalinism will surpass the critical threshold. The war and inflation also will make a resurgence of the Great Recession inevitable. Now that the final collapse of the post-WWII world system is beginning to turn definitely into a world war, there is no other way for humanity but the completion of the Anti-Imperialist-Anti-Stalinist World Revolution. This inevitable trend has already been erupting one after another in the form of a new historical upsurge of the international class struggle. In this context, the responsibility of the Japanese working class and its political party is of utmost importance. We must launch a revolutionary anti-war struggle to transform the war in Ukraine, the aggressive war on China--a world war--into a civil war to overthrow imperialism.

It is high time to launch decisive fights for the world revolution. Take to the street, organize protests in front of the Diet and smash the Three Security Documents and the military buildup bill! Crush the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May and add great impetus to the world class struggle!

Chapter III
Let's carry out the struggle "Turn the Imperialist War Into a Civil War" in the labor movement

(1) Now is the time to put into practice the Basle Manifesto

As we have confirmed in the preceding chapters, in the midst of the definitive collapse of the post-WWII world system, an aggressive war on China--world war--has virtually been launched as an expression of the inherent contradiction of imperialism, and Japanese imperialism has taken a decisive step into the cooperation with US imperialism in the war on China by the cabinet decision to revise the Three Security Documents.

Japanese imperialism, though in fear of evoking "indignation and revolt" of the workers and people by the policy of big-scale expansion of armament, tax hike and war, is fiercely driving the whole society into "the fever of war" by forcible propaganda without any kind of argument: "Do you want to be like Ukrainians?" "Powerful defense force is absolutely necessary in face of the threat of China, North Korea and Russia".

This situation doesn't allow us to remain in the previous way of protest: "No preparation for war", or "We shall not allow Japan to become a country capable of war"

What is needed is a struggle to prevent the war against China, to turn it into a civil war and to overthrow Japanese imperialism.

The impending war before us is an inevitable consequence of moribund capitalism－imperialism. It is a totally reactionary and anti-people war of imperialism at the last stage, which has barely lived for more than a century for its desperate survival since the Russian revolution at the sacrifice of the lives of the people all over the world, helped by the Stalinist betrayal of world revolution and surrender to imperialism. This war divides the working class and people which constitutes an overwhelming majority of the human race, to pit them against each other for the interest of bourgeoisie and brings about horrible massacre and destruction. This war ends either in producing a cause of another war or in perishing the human race together with capital and imperialism by the nuclear war. This is the essential character of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the aggressive war on China.

Our urgent duty in this situation is to organize and win a victory of a civil war of the overwhelming majority of the human race, working class and people of the whole world, against the small number of imperialist ruling class, a civil war to abolish all kind of exploitation and suppression based on the rule of capital over labor, and to eliminate the very existence of class. It was clearly expressed by the term, "war against war" in Basle Manifesto, adopted "by the complete unanimity of the Socialist parties and the trade unions of all countries" (on the Basle Congress in November, 1912). We must achieve the fundamental task of the revolutionary party and working class to organize anti-war struggle toward the turning of the imperialist war into a civil war, carrying out the leading principle of anti-war struggle in today's situation.

"If a war threatens to break out, it is the duty of the working classes and their parliamentary representatives in the countries . . . to exert every effort in order to prevent the outbreak of war by the means they consider most effective . . . In case war should break out anyway it is their duty to intervene in favor of its speedy termination and with all their powers to utilize the economic and political crisis created by the war to arouse the people and thereby to hasten the downfall of capitalist class rule."

"Proletarians and Socialists of all countries, to make your voices heard in this decisive hour! Proclaim your will in every form and in all places; raise your protest in the parliaments with all your force; unite in great mass demonstrations; use every means that the organization and the strength of the proletariat place at your disposal!"

It is the fundamental task of revolutionary party to put into all-out practice the directions given by Basle Manifesto, which, according to Lenin, "summarizes the vast anti-war propagandist and agitational literature in all countries, is a most complete and precise, a most solemn and formal exposition of socialist views on war and tactics towards war." and the slogans, "Turn the Imperialist War Into a Civil War!" "The Defeat of One's Own Government in the imperialist War", and to organize labor movement, student movement and all mass movements, focusing on anti-war struggle alongside this line.

(2) Let's establish class conscious labor movement to fight anti-war struggle in the war-time.

Lenin wrote: "The class struggle is impossible without dealing blows at one's "own" bourgeoisie, one's "own" government, whereas dealing a blow at one's own government in wartime is high treason, means contributing to the defeat of one's own country." (The Defeat of One's Own Government in the Imperialist War, Collected Works vol.21) We are requested to fight with this stand point.

Also, comrade Hiroshi Nakano, the former president of Doro-Chiba, has stated in his work, For the Revival of labor unions (revised edition in 2008) that labor movement has no significance if it does not embody "a labor movement to stop war in outright confrontation against imperialism", in other words, labor movement should carry out the struggle "to turn the imperialist war into a civil war."

At the very moment of the outset of war, the EL5 fraction (note) has insisted that it is demanding too much for the Japanese workers of today to practice class conscious labor movement and that we should begin with the struggle on the economic issues with the effort of spreading influence over the labor unions under the leadership of the Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the major national trade union center).

With this kind of argument, the EL5 fraction has finally dropped out from us, Japan Revolutionary Communist League, opposing the decisions adopted by the recent 26th and 27th National Committee and eighth Congress. It represents a typical idea of despising workers as powerless existence who have no potential to carry out such anti-war struggle. Those people belonging to this faction are following the shameful example of the betrayal of the Second International at the outbreak of WWⅠ, repeating that the Ukraine war is not a purely imperialist, reminiscent of Kautsky. If the EL5 fraction existed at the time of WWⅠ, it would have laughed at the Leninist slogan, "Turn the imperialist war into a civil war".
Now, however, we are witnessing that the outset of a war has created economic and political crisis and is evoking "indignation and revolt" among workers (either affiliated to the Rengo or the Zenroren or unaffiliated) and that these trends are daily accelerated. Now is the time for us to fulfill the duty, as Basle Manifesto has indicated, "with all their powers to utilize the economic and political crisis created by the war to arouse the people and thereby to hasten the downfall of capitalist class rule." Our duty is to "turn the imperialist war into a civil war"

"The indisputable and fundamental duty (under a revolutionary situation)" as was presented by Lenin in his article, The Collapse of the Second International, is one and the same with the contents of Basle Manifesto, which was adopted "by the complete unanimity of the Socialist parties and the trade unions of all countries (emphasis added)" Therefore "The indisputable and fundamental duty" should be carried out in the very labor movement, in labor unions.

Understanding of the current era is a quintessential issue for class struggle labor movement. Under a revolutionary situation, to understand and to help the mass of workers understand it, means putting into practice of the first component of the indisputable and fundamental duty of Lenin : "revealing to the masses the existence of a revolutionary situation, explaining its scope and depth, arousing the proletariat's revolutionary consciousness and revolutionary determination."

For class struggle labor movement, carrying through a right line means to develop struggle of working class toward a revolution. It corresponds the second component of the duty : "helping proletariat to go over to revolutionary action".

Thereafter comes the third component of the duty : "for that purpose, forming organizations suited to the revolutionary situation."

All these mean, for revolutionary party and labor unions, to achieve a change into organizations capable to fight in wartime : "creation of an illegal basis, an illegal organisation" by the own power of revolutionary party, labor unions and working class in a situation, in which strike means civil war and insurrection against the state.

Upon the confirmation of the above-mentioned points, our fundamental present tasks are as follows.
First of all, in face of the on-going wars, Ukrainian war and aggressive war on China, we must reveal and explain to the masses the class character of these wars and required attitude of working class and arouse their revolutionary consciousness to organize anti-war struggle. Japanese imperialist ruling class, the state power and all counter-revolutionary forces, on their side, are daily disseminating ideology of the defense of the fatherland, chauvinism.

We, on our side, however, have still far more favorable and ample legal conditions compared with Lenin and Bolshevik, who were forced to organize anti-war struggle almost just by illegal documents and illegal organizations.

We should make full use of these favorable conditions. The first duty of all the party members is: First of all, to expose the class character of the present imperialist war by using weekly organ paper Zenshin to the full extend, selling it at all workplaces, universities and schools, communities and streets, where it is possible to expand influence of the revolutionary party, to distribute leaflets expressing the contents of the organ paper, and to develop organizing activities, to make speeches etc.

Secondly, we should organize a political struggle against war. Let's crush large-scale military buildup and doubling of military budget decided by the of the Three Security Documents.

Surround the Parliament by powerful demonstrations of youth and students at the forefront exceeding the struggles of last year on May 22 and September 22-27!

Join the anti-war struggle on February 23, the anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war, sponsored by the of the Stop Constitutional Revision and War Grand March Movement!

Let's organize the largest political struggle against war in the first half of the year 2023 on May 19 to crush the G7 Summit Talks in Hiroshima by angry large-scale demonstration following May 15 struggle in Okinawa against military bases there!

All these struggles are, at the same time, a huge struggle of international solidarity to call on working class of the world for a joint effort with the aim of turning the world war into a revolution against imperialism and against Stalinism.
Thirdly, our duty is to organize concrete actions to refuse cooperation with war.

Now the struggle against mobilization for war has been taking more and more pivotal role in class struggle labor movement in education, municipalities, railways, postal services, private transport, medial and welfare services and all other industries. Let's expose publicly the real character of Rengo, which is more and more inclined to become a sort of Industrial Patriotic Association [Labor collaborationist organization under Japanese imperial wartime regime] to assist war and develop the activity to overturn its rule over labor movement!

Let's take back the bastions of struggle and organizational strongholds from their hands and build up solid front line to turn the imperialist war into a civil war!
The Joint Appeal of Three Unions for 25th November Workers Rally and New Declaration of Refusal of War Co-operation are the common program and guideline for all the workers and labor unions to carry out class struggle labor movement in wartime.

We are obliged to fully clarify the uncompromising character of class confrontation in order to carry through anti-war struggle in wartime and it is a decisive struggle between antagonistic political parties to win working class to which side. The municipal election of Suginami Ward, Tokyo in April is the largest battlefield in the wartime between political parties. Harsh confrontation between Tomoko Horaguchi, our incumbent ward council member and right-wing groups backed by the state power has already violently started and debate and polarization among the masses of this district has being taken a sharp form over the doubling of military budget and the aggression on China, at the same time arousing people to anti-war activities. Let's bring this burning issue to the workplaces, universities and schools, communities and street and organize struggle against war everywhere in Japan.

Upon confirmation of the fundamental direction as above mentioned, concrete policy for the struggle in 2023 will be presented in the next chapter.