Envoy: Japan not qualified to bid for UN seat

China, a permanent member of the Security Council, on Tuesday pushed back against Japan's bid for a permanent seat, saying Japan's recent comments on Taiwan show it is "totally unqualified".

Japan "is totally unqualified to seek a permanent seat on the Security Council," Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the UN General Assembly's annual debate on Security Council reform.

Fu noted that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently made a "brazen, provocative" statement on Taiwan at the Diet, claiming that a "Taiwan contingency" could be a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan.

She implied that Japan may invoke the so-called right to collective self-defense to interfere militarily in the Taiwan Strait.

"Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan are extremely erroneous and dangerous. They constitute a gross interference in China's internal affairs and a serious breach of the one-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan," Fu said.

They are an affront to international justice, damage the post-war international order, trample on the basic norms of international relations, and represent a blatant departure from Japan's commitment to peaceful development, the Chinese envoy added.

In his response to Japan, Fu questioned the intention behind recent remarks by Takaichi. "What is her true intention? Is Japan going to repeat its past mistakes of militarism?" he said.

Given these positions, Fu asked whether "the international community can trust Japan's professed commitment to peaceful development," and whether Japan can be relied upon to "uphold fairness and justice" or "shoulder the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security".

"Our message to Japan is clear," Fu said. "Japan should immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs, retract its wrongful, proactive remarks and actions, and refrain from playing with fire on the Taiwan question."

He said any attempt by Japan to intervene militarily would have consequences. "If Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression and would definitely be met with a firm response from China," he said. "We will exercise our right to self-defence under the UN Charter and international law and resolutely defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea also raised concerns about Japan's bid for a permanent seat.

Kim Song, permanent representative of the DPRK to the United Nations, said his delegation "maintains its consistent position that Japan must never be allowed to obtain a permanent seat on the Security Council."

Kim said that "instead of apologizing for and compensating these past crimes against humanity, Japan is now revising its Peace Constitution and moving toward becoming a military power." He said that "the attempt by such a country to secure a permanent seat on the Security Council constitutes an insult to the UN Charter and an affront to international justice."

The 15-member Security Council is the only UN body whose decisions are legally binding on all member states. Japan has long sought a permanent seat on the Council, citing its record of serving 12 times as a non-permanent member.