On November 7, DP President Renho met with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer, on a visit to Japan, at party headquarters.
Renho welcomed Maurer’s visit and Maurer congratulated her on her appointment as party President, before explaining the purpose behind his visit to Japan. Renho touched on the role played by the ICRC and the importance of the assistance Japan provides through official development assistance, saying, “We are in opposition, but I would like us to think about what action we can take.” The discussion also moved to encompass the party’s basic position on the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Next Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihisa Fujita, who had also attended the meeting, explained that in the days of its predecessor, the Democratic Party of Japan, the party had dispatched humanitarian aid inspection missions, for example to Haiti, and its efforts with regard to revision of the Protocol additional Geneva Convention and banning of anti-personnel mines had let to all-party involvement in these issues.
The two sides also agreed that the information possessed by the ICRC, with its work in combat zones, is extremely important.