Saturday, August 14, 2004
Powell and Armitage back Japan's bid for UNSC seat
* Japan must shed pacifism for permanent seat on UN Security Council, says Powell
WASHINGTON: The United States supports Japan in its drive for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage said on Friday.
They offered US support in separate interviews with Japanese media. There are five permanent members of the Council, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The other 10 seats on the Council are rotated among all members of the UN General Assembly except Israel, which is excluded due to an Arab-led boycott.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a panel to determine whether power shifts in the world should be reflected by adding Japan and Germany as permanent members. "We certainly have been supportive of Japan's interest in becoming a member of this major body within the United Nations Security Council," Powell said.
Separately, Armitage said, "The United States fully supports Japan in its desire to have a seat in the UN Security Council." Japan is the second-biggest financier of the United Nations, its contributions exceeded only by those of the United States.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Japan must consider revising its pacifist constitution if it wanted to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday. Article Nine of Japan's postwar, US-drafted constitution, renounces the right to go to war and forbids a military, although it is interpreted as permitting forces for self-defence.
"If Japan is going to play a full role on the world stage and become a full active participating member of the Security Council, and have the kind of obligations that it would pick up as a member of the Security Council, Article Nine would have to be examined in that light," Kyodo quoted Powell as saying.
"But whether or not Article Nine should be modified or changed is absolutely and entirely up to the Japanese people to decide because the United States would not presume an opinion," he added in an interview with Japanese media in Washington on Thursday.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a lawmaker for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling party last month that Japan must revise the constitution and play a greater military role for international peace if it wanted a permanent seat on the Security Council, Japanese media have reported. Japan has sent troops to help rebuild Iraq in a strictly non-combat role. Both the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party are working on proposals to revise the constitution, but many ordinary citizens and lawmakers are opposed.
agencies
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved