Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, called on the United Nations on Tuesday to scrap references to former Axis powers as “enemy states” in its Charter — a World War II-era designation that China and Russia have recently used to attack Tokyo.
Ms. Takaichi, in her first appearance before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, described Japan as a “peace-loving nation” and said the references “must be deleted.”
“I would like to strongly emphasize this position as Japan has the pride and honor of its significant contributions to the efforts of the United Nations over the last 70 years,” she said.
The U.N. Charter, drafted during the final months of World War II, includes several references to “enemy states.” At the time, the Allies wanted to preserve a way to act against the re-emergence of militarism or fascism among Axis powers like Japan, Germany and Italy, without having to consult the newly formed U.N. Security Council.
Japan’s leaders have called the “enemy state” label anachronistic. In 2005 the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution in support of removing the language. But it has been difficult to get the backing of the U.N. Security Council; any of its five permanent members, including Russia and China, can veto any measure. Some are concerned that removing the language could open the door to other revisions, such as changing the makeup of the Security Council, that would dilute their influence.
China has seized on the “enemy states” term recently to attack Japan, part of a monthslong effort to punish the country over comments Ms. Takaichi made about Taiwan. In November, Ms. Takaichi said that Japan could intervene militarily if China were to attack Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that Beijing considers part of its territory.
Beijing has since accused Tokyo of reviving World War II-era militarism, pointing to Ms. Takaichi’s efforts to rebuild the military. After Ms. Takaichi’s remark last year, the Chinese Embassy in Japan said the “enemy state” clause permitted the use of force against former Axis powers if they adopted a “policy of aggression.”
Russia has also invoked the term. Last month, its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, told reporters in Moscow that Japan was designated an “enemy state” in the U.N. Charter. He was answering a question about a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.
Jeff Kingston, a professor of modern Japanese politics and history at Temple University’s Tokyo campus, said Ms. Takaichi wanted to remind the United States “whose side Japan has been on for the past eight decades as a model international citizen.” She was also trying to “draw a line in the sand” with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin.
U.N. General Assembly: Live Updates
Updated
- Here’s the latest.
- Most speakers treat the U.N.’s 15-minute limit as optional.
- The West may be worried, but many countries are optimistic about A.I., a new poll finds.
“She is playing to an international audience and seeking to highlight how this outdated clause is politicized by Japan’s adversaries,” he said.
Ms. Takaichi had a full agenda in New York, where she met with President Trump on Tuesday, a day before he was set to host Mr. Xi for a state visit in Washington.
Ms. Takaichi had been eager to meet Mr. Trump before the visit to brief him on China’s increasingly aggressive economic and military measures against Japan, and to highlight Japan’s investments in the American economy.
Seated next to Mr. Trump at U.N. headquarters, Ms. Takaichi said the meeting demonstrated “the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance to the world.”
Mr. Trump praised Ms. Takaichi, saying, “She’s going to go down as one of the great prime ministers.”
Ms. Takaichi had faced pressure at home to question Mr. Trump about his administration’s recent decision to impose sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge. The decision has stirred deep anger in Japan, and Ms. Takaichi has called it “very unfortunate.”
Ms. Takaichi said at a news conference in New York on Tuesday that she had raised the issue, though she did not provide details, according to NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster.
Ms. Takaichi used her appearance at the U.N. to promote her country’s desire to play a more active global role in defense and economic matters.
She issued a stark warning about the changing world order, saying the “stable post-Cold War era is now a thing of the past.” She pitched her country as a force for stability and strength, ready to help on issues like artificial intelligence, climate change and nuclear disarmament.
“Japan feels a sense of responsibility to safeguard the ideals of the United Nations as our beacon of hope,” she said. Ms. Takaichi, a defense hawk, did not mention China by name, though she criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
She also expressed an openness to dialogue with North Korea, after recent calls by South Korea to ease sanctions on Pyongyang.
At the U.N., Ms. Takaichi also raised a longstanding concern for Japan: the fate of 17 citizens that Japan says North Korea abducted decades ago. North Korea has acknowledged only that its agents abducted 13 Japanese people in the 1970s and ’80s. Five of them returned to Japan in 2002. North Korea has said the others died long ago.
The post At the U.N., Japan’s Leader Says It’s Time to End ‘Enemy State’ Label appeared first on New York Times.
