Japan to go it alone in quest for UN seat

By Mark Turner 
January 7, 2006
Financial Times
Original Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/3cf6fe82-7f22-11da-a6a2-0000779e2340.html

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Japan has tactically split from its joint effort with India, Germany and Brazil to win a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, diplomats confirmed yesterday.
Although Japan says it will continue to work closely with the three countries, in an alliance known as the G4, it decided not to join them in a new UN General Assembly resolution filed on Thursday.
The three allies have reiterated their call for the 15-member Security Council to be expanded to 25, with six new permanent seats but no new vetoes yet. But Japan says it wants to pursue negotiations with the US first and has also initiated talks with its regional rival China.
The US supports only two or so new permanent members, including Japan, the UN's second largest financial contributor. Japanese diplomats also fear tabling another General Assembly resolution would further alienate African Union countries, who have tabled a separate proposal.
The 53-member AU proposal is unlikely to succeed, but any final deal will need African support to win the necessary two-thirds ap-proval in the 191-member General Assembly.
Japan is pushing for a solution before discussions begin on the UN budget, capped at six months unless institutional reforms move ahead. The US says its priority is UN management re-form and progress on a new Human Rights Council.