Posted on 05/08/2005 3:38:20 AM PDT by Paul_Denton
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) A senior U.S. administration official told visiting Japanese lawmakers that the United States has directly urged China not to block Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, delegation chief Fukushiro Nukaga said. U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns also revealed that he has conveyed concerns over the recent anti-Japan rallies in China and has called on China, as well as South Korea, to mend their soured ties with Japan, Nukaga told reporters after a meeting Friday between Burns and the Japanese delegation.
Burns told the defense-related delegation of ruling coalition and opposition lawmakers that he stressed that stable Japan-China ties benefit Beijing's national interests and also expressed concern over China's military expansion in relation to its stand on Taiwan, said Nukaga, a former director general of the Defense Agency.
Nukaga said Burns also emphasized to South Korea the importance of its ties with Japan. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is scheduled to visit Seoul next month to mend ties soured by a renewed territorial dispute over the sovereignty of an island in the Sea of Japan.
As for Japan-China ties undermined by a spate of violent anti-Japan rallies, Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed in a meeting last month to work toward mending fences, although they did not clearly address and resolve their dispute over their perceptions of history.
Nukaga said Burns reaffirmed U.S. backing of Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, saying Japan is the only nation that Washington supports.
Burns also underlined the U.S. wish to see progress on the council's reform by September, Nukaga said.
While highlighting other aspects of the sound bilateral alliance, Burns reiterated the U.S. demand that Japan quickly lift its import ban imposed on U.S. beef since December 2003, when the United States discovered its first case of mad cow disease.
On North Korea, Burns reiterated that the United States remains committed and hopeful about resuming the six-party talks on the North's nuclear ambitions, Nukaga said.
But if Pyongyang continues to refuse to return to the talks, the other parties -- China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the U.S. -- will have to discuss other "diplomatic" options, such as taking the North to the U.N. Security Council, Nukaga quoted Burns as saying.
Nukaga also quoted him as saying the U.S. wants to consult with Japan over measures to deal with North Korea's drug trafficking, money counterfeiting and possible proliferation of nuclear materials.
Burns noted it remains unclear whether the six-party talks can be resumed by June, which marks one year since the talks collapsed after the third round, Nukaga said.
Stressing that it is "frankly" difficult to predict what North Korean leader Kim Jong Il wants to do, Burns told the lawmakers that Washington is carefully watching North Korea, including its reported preparations for a nuclear weapons test, Nukaga said.
The Japan Times: May 8, 2005
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Ping
Japan deserves a seat on the Security Council. Give them ours.
Japan * ping * (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)
I'm with you !
An interesting approach.
Have Japan replace ours AND Chinas AND france's
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