Japan preparing new resolution to win permanent UN Security Council seat

AP
January 6, 2006
Khaleej Times
Original Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/January/theworld_January113.xml&section=theworld
TOKYO - Japan is preparing a new resolution in its quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, in consultation with the United States, a top Japanese official said on Friday. 
Tokyo’s bid - submitted jointly with Germany and other countries - to expand the Security Council last year fizzled, in part because of strong Chinese opposition to Japanese membership.
But Japan has not given up, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe.
“Japan is currently looking for a proposal that can garner support from more UN members and is continuing discussions with the United States,” Abe told reporters.
The council currently has five permanent members - the United States, China, Britain, France and Russia - and 10 non-permanent seats that circulate among other UN member states.
Critics say the permanent seats should be expanded to better reflect today’s world. Japan, for instance, is the world’s second-largest economy, but does not have a permanent seat.
Abe’s comments came amid reports that Germany, Brazil and India had submitted a resolution to the UN without Japan’s participation.
Abe said that resolution was the same one submitted last year, and it was unlikely to win more support this time around. Instead of submitting the same proposal again, Japan want to come up with a new proposal, he said.
The absence of Japan in the latest submission does not signal a rupture with the other three countries. Japan, Germany, Brazil and India comprise a group known as the G-4, Abe said.
“We will maintain close contact with the G-4 members based on trustful relations,” he said.
The Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday that Japan would submit a resolution in the spring to expand the council’s size from 15 to 21, with each of the six new nations eligible for a permanent seat pending a two-thirds vote from the UN’s member countries.