By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Oct 26 2005 (IPS)

Thwarted in its bid to sit at the high table of the United Nations Security Council, Japan is now talking loudly, even childishly some say, about cuts to its sizeable contribution the world body.

Heading calls for a cut in Japan’s U.N. budget is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi himself. Last week, he was quoted in the media as saying that Japan is ”bearing more of a (financial) burden than the four countries, and that point should be taken into account.”

Koizumi’s reference was to the fact that Japan contributes almost 20 percent of the U.N. budget or 346 million U.S. dollars, higher than the combined contributions made by the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council-Britain, China, Russia and France.

Only the United States contributes more than Japan, paying as much as 22 percent of the annual budget, while Britain pays 5.536 percent, China 1.532 percent, France 6.466 percent and Russia 1.2 percent.

”Japan is obligated to pay an assessed contribution that far exceeds the sum of the contributions made by four out of the five permanent members of the Security Council,” Japan’s ambassador to the U.N. Toshiro Ozawa reminded the administrative and budgetary arm of the body’s General Assembly, last week.

”There is a growing number of our people voicing frustration. They are arguing that Japan’s contribution is not fully appreciated in the U.N. or that due regard is not paid in the U.N. to Japan despite the earnest support it has provided to the organization.”

Analysts say the ongoing debate reflects the public’s and politicians disappointment with the international body following the rejection of Japan’s application for membership in the Security Council.

Japan not only failed to gain enough support from other U.N. members in its bid to gain permanent membership to the Security Council but drew active hostility from China which harped on its appalling pre-World War II colonial record.

Meanwhile, Japan’s relationships with China have only worsened, as result of Koizumi’s frequent appearances at the Yasukuni shrine where those executed for war crimes by victorious Allies, after Japan’s defeat, were buried.

More than 64 percent of Japanese supported their country entering an expanded U.N. Security Council and two-thirds responded to entry with with veto powers, in a poll on the U.N. released by the foreign ministry in February.

”The image of the United Nations has plummeted in Japan for various reasons which is great pity,” says Professor Takeshi Inoguchi, political science expert and former head of the United Nations University in Tokyo.

Inoguchi also pointed out that to recent corruption scandals within the United Nations, has also added to an image of incompetence and complicated power struggles in the world body that is detrimental to gaining public support here.

As a result, explains Inoguchi, the public would care less about a cut in Japan’s UN dues. ”The United Nations plays a vital role for Japan, a pacific country, because it acts as a platform to play an active international role. Against such a backdrop, a strong and competent United Nations is much needed in this part of the world,” he said.

Some experts contend the threat of reducing Japanese contributions to the United Nations is aimed at making others understand the importance of the world’s second richest country.

”If Japan backs away from supporting the United Nations there is bound to be repercussions given its huge share of the world body. This would show that Japan’s role in international politics is extremely important,” said Professor Toshiya Hoshino, an international relations expert at Osaka University.

Hoshino has long been an advocate of Japanese membership in the Security Council. Japan, he said, has paid more than its due share to support U.N. work in paving the way for equality, human security and human rights.

Japan has also increased its activism in fields such as U.N. peacekeeping operations and supporting the development of Africa, he said.

Experts contend the growing frustration with the United Nations could mean a drastic cut in Japan’s contributions as early as next year.

Japan is now in the throes of discussing its fiscal 2006 national budget where cuts are expected across the ministries given its huge fiscal deficit.

While the Foreign Ministry says Japan will not reduce its dues, experts contend a reduction is inevitable with Inoguchi estimating a ten percent decline next year.

Rie Nagase, development activist at the Asia Pacific Resource Center, a leading independent non-governmental organization (NGO), says the threat of cuts are definitely linked to Japan not gaining a seat in the United Nations and smacked of poor diplomacy.

”Japan now looks like an angry child now because the argument that Japan should not pay more than Britain or China, that are permanent members, is not the main point in the current debate on the U.N.,” he told IPS.

Nagase points out that Japan spends much more on unnecessary public works in the country than its dues to the United Nations that is based on the country’s economic standing.

Russia and China have both said they were opposed to any change in assessment of dues to the U.N. that is based on wealth.

And then there is the thought that Japan needs the U.N. system too to effectively project its policies especially when no alternative existed.

”There is a move for Japan to increase its bilateral ODA or (project itself) through other means than the United Nations which could be dangerous as there is (still) no multinational platform for debate,” he said.

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