Japan to join U.N. Standby Arrangements System for active PKO: Aso

TOKYO, July 1 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Taro Aso said Wednesday that Japan will allow its Self-Defense
Forces to provide logistical support to the U.N. Standby Arrangements System in
a bid to actively participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Aso conveyed the decision to visiting U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon during
their meeting in Tokyo, he told a joint news conference with Ban, while the two
also confirmed the importance of fully and effectively implementing a U.N.
Security Council resolution imposed on North Korea aimed at punishing Pyongyang
for its recent nuclear test.
The U.N. Standby Arrangements System was established in 1994 in order to
promote more efficient peacekeeping operations. Participating countries
register information in advance such as the number of personnel able to
participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
A total of 87 countries are participating in the system, according to the
Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Japan will provide the United Nations with information on the SDF's logistical
capabilities in six areas -- medical care, transport, storage including
stockpiles, communications, construction and installation, and inspecting and
repairing machinery, the ministry said.
By participating in the system, Japan aims to clearly express its willingness
to participate in the peacekeeping operations in a subjective and active manner
and to practically cooperate with the United Nations as a nonpermanent Security
Council member, a Foreign Ministry official said.
On North Korea, Aso said its possession of nuclear weapons is ''categorically
unacceptable,'' while Ban said the United Nations will spare no efforts to
achieve a verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Ban also stressed the need to resume dialogue with North Korea through the
six-party denuclearization talks and other channels.
The two also exchanged views on Myanmar before Ban's visit to the
military-ruled country.
Aso expressed support for Ban's move, saying he appreciates the U.N. chief's
diplomatic efforts as it is crucial time for the relationship between Myanmar
and the global community, the ministry official said.
On climate change, Ban said Japan's leadership is ''needed urgently'' now so
that countries can reach an agreement on a new framework to succeed the 1997
Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012, at a key U.N. climate change
conference in Copenhagen in December.
Aso explained Japan's target for reducing the nation's greenhouse gas emissions
by 15 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and that the target will be achieved
only by domestic efforts, the premier said.
Ban told Aso that he welcomes Japan's target while expressing hope that Japan
would contribute more through funds and technology to making the Copenhagen
conference a success, the official said.
Ban met separately with Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan, and told him that the ''enemy state'' clause in the
U.N. Charter is an ''already dead provision,'' according to DPJ lawmaker
Yukihisa Fujita.
Ban was responding to a request from Hatoyama for the United Nations to remove
the clause from the charter, Fujita said. Japan is one of seven nations labeled
in the charter as former enemies of the Allied Powers during World War II.
In their meeting, Hatoyama told Ban that while the Japan-U.S. relationship is
important, the DPJ places greater emphasis on the United Nations in its foreign
policy than the current government.
Hatoyama also expressed his willingness to attend a meeting of the U.N. General
Assembly in September after bringing about a change of government in the
upcoming House of Representatives election, which may be held as early as this
summer.
==Kyodo