Wednesday, October 09, 2013

"nor brass in your purses"- The UN and Japan


Tokyo in 2013

The UN and Japan


Japan is actually the second largest, richest, and advanced country in the world in terms of economy and technology , following the US.

(China is not at the same level of advanced G8 countries in terms of culture, democracy, and justice. So, it cannot be counted in.)

Accordingly,  Japan provides the largest amount of money for operation of the United Nations only next to the US.


Financial Contribution to the United Nations
===========================================
Country           Funding               %        Number of Staff in UN

1. US               $618.5 million    22.0      3012

2. JAPAN        $276.1 million    10.8        805

3. Germany      $182   million      7.1      1182

4. France        $142.5 million      5.5      1878

5. UK             $132 million         5.1      1650

6. China         $131.2 million       5.1       540
===========================================

Apparently there are not enough Japanese workers in UN offices.  Japan has not sent a number of staff proportional to its contribution to the UN.

Anyway the United Nations fought historically Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan in early 1940s.  Japan and Germany look like still being forced to provide big money for the allied countries' organization called the United Nations as a kind of punishment.

It is also deplorable that when Japan tried to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China made a dirty and mean effort to prevent Japan from being elected for the position.

Nonetheless, people in the world acknowledge that Japan is the country that has contributed to the peace of the world after WWII.  The key to this Japanese stance for global peace lies in Article 9 of its Constitution.
ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.  
(2) To accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.
In contrast, the Chinese Constitution is designed on the premise that any war is necessary and inevitable for the Chinese Government and the Chinese Communist Party.  Some Articles of the Chinese Communist Party related to war are as follows:
Article 55. It is the sacred obligation of every citizen of the People's Republic of China to defend the motherland and resist aggression. It is the honourable duty of citizens of the People's Republic of China to perform military service and join the militia in accordance with the law. 
Article 62. The National People's Congress exercises the following functions and powers:
(14) To decide on questions of war and peace; and

Article 67. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress exercises the following functions and powers:
(18) To decide, when the National People's Congress is not in session, on the proclamation of a state of war in the event of an armed attack on the country or in fulfillment of international treaty obligations concerning common defence against aggression;

Article 93. The Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China directs the armed forces of the country. The Central Military Commission is composed of the following: The Chairman; The Vice-Chairmen; and Members. The Chairman of the Central Military Commission has overall responsibility for the commission. The term of office of the Central Military Commission is the same as that of the National People's Congress.
From the beginning, China could not defeat the Empire of Japan in its 10-year-long war against the Empire through WWII.  The US provided a huge amount of military aid and armament for China before WWII.  Without this material and physical support from the US, Chinese elites and politicians should have left China, leaving citizens behind.  Possible Chinese government in exile should have been set in India, Australia, or Moscow.  .

To hide this past shame, China today acts as if it had been a major and influential member of the allied powers.  For this reason, China always makes a mad effort to prevent Japan from assuming a permanent seat of the UN Security Council.
China hints at opposition to Japan on UN seat
(AP/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-01 19:13 
China hinted on Thursday it would oppose Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, days before a visit by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that will address plans to reform the body. 
China hinted on Thursday it would oppose Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, days before a visit by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that will address plans to reform the body.
Japan's lobbying for a permanent seat on the council was one of the factors behind a wave of anti-Japanese protests in China earlier this year that were the latest manifestation of old resentments between the Asian giants over Japan's wartime aggression.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-12/01/content_499583.htm
However Japanese idea to expand the permanent members the UN Security Council has been supported most of G20 countries except China.
JAPAN'S BID FOR SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM & ITS ROLE IN THE UNITED NATIONS 
June 23, 2009
Speaker:
His Excellency Yukio Takasu, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations
Presider: Michael Green, Senior Adviser & Japan Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Associate Professor, Georgetown University
His Excellency Yukio Takasu, Japan's Ambassador to the UN, spoke at Japan Society about the principles and process of Security Council reform. 
In January of this year, Japan began serving a two-year term as a nonpermanent member of the Security Council, Ambassador Takasu noted. This is Japan's tenth such term; aside from the five permanent members, the U.S., China, Russia, the UK and France, Japan has served more years on the Security Council than any other country.  
In campaigning for a permanent Security Council seat, Japan aims to make the Council "representative, effective and legitimate," he said. Simply put, "the current structure does not reflect the reality of the world we live in."
...

Forty-five years ago, the number of nonpermanent members was raised to 10, but there've been no expansions of the Council since then. Meanwhile, the overall membership of the UN has nearly quadrupled, to 192. There are today 54 member countries from Asia, but only two nonpermanent Security Council seats for Asian countries. 
There's general agreement that the Security Council should be enlarged, and indeed a "momentum for reform," but "no convergence of views yet" on the modality of the reform package, according to Ambassador Takasu.  
Three basic proposals are being debated. Japan, supported by Brazil, Germany, India and a number of other countries, advocates enlarging the Council from 15 to 25, with 11 permanent members. Two of the new permanent seats would go to Asia, two to Africa, one to Western Europe and one to Latin America; and there would be 14 nonpermanent members, four more than the current structure.  
African countries, meanwhile, urge expansion to 26, representing 11 permanent and 15 nonpermanent members, with the two new African permanent members having veto powers.
http://www.japansociety.org/japans_bid_for_security_council_reform__its_role_in_the_united_nations
In this context now the world is divided by those who support Japan and others who are forced to support China due to Chinese economic influences, if any.





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Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Mat 10:9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Mat 10:10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.