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Japan's Security Council dreams clouded with neighbors wary
KYOTO, Japan - Japan's cherished dream of becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council looks as murky as ever with poor relations with China hanging over its bid. Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura spearheaded Japan's latest lobbying drive when he chaired a two-day session of the 38-nation Asia-Europe Meeting, trying to rekindle momentum to implement historic UN reforms at the world body's September summit. But the meeting which closed Saturday saw only a few nations such as Finland and Slovenia throwing their backing behind Japan to join the club of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States which wield veto power at the UN. "In Asia, China has already been working hard as a member of the UN Security Council," Machimura told the meeting of top diplomats in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto. "In order to raise Asia's presence as a whole, Japan is also ready to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council," Machimura said. "We would like to get your understanding." The Security Council set-up dates back to World War II, making an expansion with Japan a major step symbolizing its rehabilitation into a major power. But China and South Korea, which suffered Japanese atrocities before and during World War II, accuse Japan of not atoning for its crimes and voiced opposition to their wartime enemy's hopes during the Kyoto meeting. "The UN Security Council should be reformed based on the broadest possible consensus," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said. "It is difficult for China to support ideas of setting a deadline or forcing a particular proposal." South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon agreed, saying: "UN reforms should not lead to dissonance. UN reforms are supposed to make the UN effective." Japan has launched a joint bid for Security Council seats with Brazil, Germany and India but all have faced reluctance from their neighbors. Machimura failed to win support of the full European Union amid Italy's criticism of giving a seat to Germany, which would leave Rome as the main European nation without a permanent Security Council seat. "All the EU members are interested in the issue," Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg, which currently holds the EU presidency, told Machimura. "But at the same time, it's a difficult issue. It is very difficult for the EU to have a consensus on UN Security Council reform," Asselborn said. Japan has secured wide support in the developing world and is the only expansion candidate explicitly backed by the United States, its close ally. But Washington has rejected UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal to set a deadline of the September summit, meaning momentum for the long-discussed UN reform could slip. Experts forecast that Japan's chances of winning a Security Council seat were now slim. "It is nearly impossible for Japan to get the result by September," said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professor of international politics at Aoyama Gakuen University in Tokyo. "China and South Korea are holding the key to the success of Japan's bid," Yamamoto said. "Its fate especially depends on China. If China says it's okay, Japan's permanent seat will be in sight." But China has described its relations with Japan as being at a 30-year low after Tokyo approved a history textbook that allegedly whitewashes its wartime crimes. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last month used fellow candidate India as a base to denounce Japan as unfit for a Security Council seat, weeks before Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his own trip to New Delhi. Koizumi in April offered a new apology for the suffering Japan caused in the past when he addressed an Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta attended by both Annan and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Japan argues that it deserves a seat as it is the world's second largest economy and a major donor, last year setting at 19.5 percent its share of funding for the United Nations. Only the United States contributes more at 22 percent, with permanent members of the Security Council on average giving less than 10 percent each to the UN budget. |
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