May 31, 2000
Excerpt from report in English by the Japanese news agency Kyodo
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) believes Japan should become a permanent member of the UN Security Council as part of reforms of the world body, the co-chair of an ASEAN meeting said Wednesday [29th March]. Carolina Hernandez, president of the Manila-based Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, said the 10-nation group strongly supports changes in the United Nations.
An expert on Asian affairs, Hernandez told a press conference that the Security Council must be reformed "so that one day we will see Japan become one of the permanent members". ASEAN's support for Japan's bid to sit on the council as a permanent member "has to do with a largely changed international and global environment," said Hernandez, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.
"We feel that it is very important to have another voice on the Security Council to represent the region," she said. "Membership in the Security Council, especially the permanent ones, is not a reflection of the configuration of power in the world. Japan is definitely a global power in economic terms and also in other terms," she said.
Hernandez said that if Japan becomes a permanent Security Council member, "it will not only be good for ASEAN, it will be good for the Asia-Pacific region and for the world as well." Citing examples, Hernandez said Japan could commit resources for peacekeeping operations, befitting its role as "a global player in the realm of civilian power."...
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