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| No UNSC seat, no bucks from Japan |
| 2005-09-11 |
| TOKYO: Japan plans to demand a cut in its contributions to the United Nations budget from 2007 after the failure of its high-profile campaign to win a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a leading newspaper said on Sunday. Tokyo had stepped up a decades-old drive for a permanent seat in recent months, but met with lukewarm support from the United States and hostility from China, which cites what it perceives as Japan's failure to atone for its wartime past. With little prospect of a seat, the government believes it will no longer be able to ensure public support for shouldering almost 20 percent of the UN budget, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing government sources. Japan is set to demand that permanent Security Council members should make financial contributions to match their status, an argument that is likely to face opposition from China and Russia, whose contributions would rise, the paper said. Assuming that prime minister Koizumi wins Sunday's election, which polls indicate he is likely to do, his foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, would make a speech on the need to review UN contributions at a General Assembly meeting in New York starting on September 19, the Yomiuri said. |
| Posted by:john |
| #7 The logical thing to do is to set up a parallel organization to the UNSC. That is, a new club that only includes the *real* powers, military and economic. There should be three tiers to the club: The first tier would be veto members. Those that have a significant military and would agree to commit permanent resources, men, money, and guns, to a permanent garrison located in a neutral host country or countries around the world. This garrison would conduct peacekeeping and nationbuilding operations around the world, where violence and chaos require armed forces. Most likely this first tier would include only the US, Russia, China, Japan, India, and perhaps the EU. Though there are several serious contenders who may wish to ante up a decade in advance. The second tier would be voting members without veto. That is, nations that are powerful but unwilling to commit forces to perform mutual operations involving force. They commit forces and money only in support of humanitarian missions. The third tier and blocs and NGOs that act in support and advisory roles to the club. These could be organizations such as SEATO, the African Union, the Int'l Red Thingy, and several others. They could assist in the debate, if requested, but would have no vote. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-09-11 17:08 |
| #6 Works for me. Maybe Japan should be the first country we invite to join the League of Democracies, as we kick the Useless Nitwits out of the U.S. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-09-11 16:58 |
| #5 How much are we going to demand our be cut by? 75%? I love it when the lefties and Euro weenies go on "you haven't paid the full amount you owe the UN" tangents. Even if we don't it is still multiple times what they pay. Screw this TRANZI crap and get us out of the UN. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-09-11 16:31 |
| #4 Withdraw Japanese funding and withdraw U.S. funding; the U.N. will collapse and can be replaced with something more useful for promoting peace and freedom. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2005-09-11 16:20 |
| #3 Get rid of the UN! |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-09-11 15:23 |
| #2 The UN is a dead rat on the kitchen floor. It can't be fixed - because most of the rot has a veto. Follow Japan's lead - offer 1/191th the cost of whatever the UN does to actually help people, effectively and openly - which might be, what - 5% of its budget? Use the remainder to make the pay of our armed forces more competitive with the commercial market. Put our money where it does us the most good, not the least. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-09-11 15:21 |
| #1 Japan has more of a right to a permanent seat than France. This seems a logical course for them. Why fund a kleptocracy which provides them no benefit. |
| Posted by: RWV 2005-09-11 15:12 |