UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Wednesday that Japan is not qualified at all for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Japanese militarism has not been thoroughly reckoned with, and Japanese right-wing forces are pushing for remilitarization, said Sun Lei, the charge d'affaires of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
"A country that shows no remorse for its historical crimes, that violates basic norms of international relations, that challenges the outcomes of World War II and blatantly tramples on the post-war international order, cannot shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding international peace and security, cannot gain the trust of the international community, and has fundamentally no qualifications to seek permanent membership on the Security Council," said Sun.
The Security Council is the core of the international collective security mechanism. It has a special important mission in upholding the post-war international order and safeguarding international peace and security, he told a General Assembly meeting on intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform.
Eighty years ago, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was formally convened. The Tokyo trials severely punished Japanese war criminals, upheld international justice, and defended human dignity. It was also a stern warning against any attempts to revive militarism, aggression, and expansion, said Sun. "Yet, Japanese militarism has not been thoroughly reckoned with. It has mutated and grown in the shadows instead."
Japanese right-wing forces have vigorously whitewashed Japan's history of aggression, have manifestly denied the historical crimes of the Nanjing Massacre, forced recruitment of sex slaves, and forced labor. They have pushed to revise history textbooks in an attempt to rewrite Japan's history of aggression. Several current Japanese government officials have paid homage at Yasukuni Shrine, the spiritual symbol of militarism, showing reverence for Class-A war criminals, he noted.
From Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan and her threat on the use of force against China, to senior Japanese officials openly advocating for possessing nuclear weapons, to pushing to revise the three national security documents and clamoring to amend the three non-nuclear principles, these actions fully expose the sinister intentions of Japanese right-wing forces to promote re-militarization and attempt to revive militarism, posing new threats to regional and global peace and security, said Sun.
Such a country is not qualified at all for a permanent seat on the Security Council, he said.
China, as a permanent Security Council member and a responsible major country, stands ready to work with all peace-loving nations and peoples to resolutely defend the victorious outcomes of World War II and post-war international order, jointly uphold the Security Council authority and unity, and play a constructive role in international peace and security, he said.
On Security Council reform, Sun said China supports necessary and reasonable reform to enhance the council's authority and efficiency and better respond to crises and challenges. The only correct direction of the reform must be to effectively increase the representation and voice of developing countries.
The historical injustice suffered by Africa must be rectified and special arrangements must be made to meet Africa's aspirations as a priority. The five clusters concerning Security Council reform are foundational and critical issues and must be tackled through a package solution, he said.
The approach of securing seats for entire cross-regional groups rather than for specific countries has won broader support. At the same time, more and more countries are open to establishing regional and rotating seats. China hopes that the current session of intergovernmental negotiations will engage in in-depth discussions about these new reform concepts, said Sun. ■
