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China says no to Japan's proposal on UN dues www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-24 00:11:05 BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said here Thursday China "firmly" opposes Japan's proposal to revise UN dues assessments and set a minimum rate for permanent members of the Security Council. Japan presented a proposal to the UN General Assembly budget committee on March 10, saying each of the five permanent council members -- the United States, Russia, Britain, China and France --should contribute at least 3 percent or 5 percent of the UN budget. Under the proposal, China and Russia, whose dues currently...

Japan reiterates support to UNSC reform by September (Kyodo) _ Japan reiterated its support Friday of a proposal by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to decide on the expansion of the U.N. Security Council by September, a day after the United States expressed opposition to the idea. Japan has supported Annan's call to resolve the issue by September and has taken "a somewhat different stance than the United States," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura said in a press conference. Speaking as a government spokesman, Sugiura called on Washington to get involved in reforming the powerful council as Tokyo aims...

Koizumi should propose U.N. reform U.N. has `official status,' but no `official power' Japan's place in the world: Yoichi Funabashi: Tokyo In August 1994, Diet members of the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party and the now-defunct Sakigake formed a society to ``think about becoming a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.'' According to the prospectus, the society's objective was to restrain moves by the government and the Foreign Ministry to push the Diet's wish of securing a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. It was headed by LDP lawmaker Junichiro Koizumi, who...