 Japan as permanent UNSC member with military role conflicts with Article 9: Shii Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo on September 22 published a view on Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's call at the U.N. General Assembly meeting on September 21 for Japan's permanent United Nations Security Council seat. The text follows: If Japan is to play an important part in the U.N., the Japanese government must first end its subservience to the United States and independently carry out a peace diplomacy to contribute to establishing a U.N. Charter-based order for peace and win the trust of the peoples in the world. In his speech the prime minister stressed that Japan has a role to play as the only A-bombed country. Contrary to this statement, however, the Japanese government in the UNGA has refused to vote for UNGA resolutions calling for nuclear weapons to be abolished. As an A-bombed country, the Japanese government is strongly called upon to change its position to one of using its initiative to achieve nuclear weapons abolition. The international community won't support giving Japan a permanent UNSC seat unless Japan establishes an independent foreign policy aimed at peace. Under the U.N. Charter, permanent UNSC members are asked to act under the premise that they will contribute their national forces to a U.N. force organized under Article 42. Article 47 also tasks permanent UNSC members with representation in the UNSC Military Staff Committee which is responsible for the strategic direction of U.N. military operations. These duties and responsibilities to be borne by a permanent UNSC member clearly conflict with Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. The series of recent moves show that Japan's quest for a permanent UNSC seat is closely connected with moves to adversely revise the war-renouncing Article 9 and structure the country into one that sends troops abroad. This is clear from Prime Minister Koizumi's remarks calling for constitutional revision and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's statement that constitutional revision is a requirement for Japan's permanent UNSC seat. The Japanese Communist Party opposes the government moves to use the issue of Japan's permanent UNSC seat as the lever to make Japan into a military power. United Nations reform must maintain the following basic principles: - Any reform should be carried out to contribute to advancing and strengthening U.N. efforts to establish an international peace based on the U.N. Charter. - Reform should impartially reflect the opinions of peoples of the world in a manner commensurate with major structural changes taking place in the world, including an increase in the number of U.N. member countries from 51 at the time of its inception to 191 as a result of the collapse of colonial rule and many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America achieving independence. International discussions are needed to form a consensus on concrete plans for U.N. reform. (end) |