TNAG-2016-FCO40-2871-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-Japan-1990 — Page 218

CONFIDENTIAL

While

discussing with us, and the Americans, their aspirations

for permanent membership of the Security Council. leaving no doubt about the importance they attach to the

issue they were content for discussions to continue on a

confidential basis. They are not proposing action in the

next UN General Assembly.

Any move to open the question of Council membership

would awaken claims by India, Brazil and other regional powers to permanent seats, and claims by the Third World

to a greater share of non-permanent seats. The Germans

have recently indicated that they are not interested in

pursuing permanent membership, but that may well change. The present favoured position of the West (with three

permanent and two non-permanent seats out to 15 on the

Council) would almost certainly not survive any new distribution of seats among the regional groups. The Japanese seem prepared to move slowly at the UN, but once they put the idea of reform of the Security Council on

the table it will be extremely difficult to get rid of without making damaging concessions in terms of Western membership and the effectiveness of the Council.

A

Japan currently pays 11.38% of the UN regular budget compared to our 4.86% and France's 6.25%. The Japanese thus have good grounds for expecting the UN membership to

be more responsive to their concerns. We have taken the lead in trying to bring them into Western policy-making (chiefly through the G7), and have ensured that they are fully briefed on, for example, the Five's discussions on

Cambodia.

CONFIDENTIAL

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