Section 4. Cooperation in UN Activities
1. The United Nations Today
The United Nations is the most universal international organization established to maintain international peace and security and to promote economic and social development of all nations. Now, over 30 years after its establishment, the membership of the United Nations has increased more than threefold to 157 members, including many Asian and African nations which attained independence in the 1960s. Also, the functions of the United Nations have developed in a way substantially different from that initially intended, along with such changes in the international political and economic situation as those in East-West relations, relations among the great powers, and relations among industrially advanced nations, as well as the growing influence of oil-producing nations and the growth of newly industrialized countries.
For example, the Trusteeship Council, one of the principal organs of the UN, has substantively accomplished its original mission to date. On the other hand, with rising voices of the Third World countries for establishing new orders such as a New International Economic Order and a New Information and Communication Order, the North-South question has become one of the primary concerns of the UN. With regard to one of the United Nations' major purposes of maintaining international peace and security, the compulsory dispute settlement function, as originally envisaged in the UN Charter, has been replaced by the "peace-keeping operations." As the UN Secretary-General has acknowledged, the UN's ability to prevent or settle disputes is limited. Many people have recently become aware of the limitations of the world organization and are calling for the strengthening of its functions.
In the final analysis, these problems of the UN are attributable to the fact that it is a body which directly reflects the political realities of the world. What the UN is able to do in response to the political, economic and social realities depends to a great extent on the determination and cooperation of its member states, particularly those of the permanent members of the Security Council. The UN is the only universal forum for discussing international political problems and handles a wide range of subjects including environment, population, food, science and technology, aid and trade, and the oceans. Its raison d'etre will increase in the future.
2. Japan and the United Nations
(1) Japan's Basic Attitude
Since its admission in 1956 to the United Nations, Japan has been giving positive support to the aims and activities of the world organization. Japan's international responsibility has been increasing in recent years as its position in the international community has been rising. It has, therefore, been participating in, cooperating with and backing up a broad range of UN activities in an even more active manner over the years. To take an example, Japan served as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the fifth time in 1981-82 (Japan and Brazil hold the record number of times elected to non-permanent membership). Japan comes third, after the United States and the Soviet Union, in the assessed contributions to the world body and, if voluntary contributions are included, Japan is the second biggest contributor to the UN after the United States.
In providing active support to the international community through the UN, the great expectations and support of a wide strata of the Japanese people for the goals and activities of the UN should not be overlooked. Cooperation with the UN based on national support is an important pillar of Japan's basic foreign policy.
(2) Japan's Activities in the UN in 1982
In line with its basic policy, Japan took an active part in the UN. The following were the major activities of Japan in 1982.
(a) As a non-permanent member of the Security Council (the two-year term expired at the end of 1982), Japan made a positive contribution to the activities of the Security Council, whose primary responsibility is to maintain world peace and security, by participating in the discussion of various problems including the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) issue, the situation in Lebanon, the Iran-Iraq war, and political prisoners in the Republic of South Africa. In September, Japan acted as the chairman of the Security Council, contributing to the adoption of various resolutions on the situation in Lebanon.
(b) At the 37th session of the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Yoshio Sakurauchi spoke in the general debate on October 1. In view of the importance of strengthening the UN's functions so as to build up mutual trust among nations in the world beset by continuous mistrust and tension, he made several proposals emphasizing the importance of strengthening UN's functions in peace-keeping and disarmament as well as its economic and social activities.
Foreign Minister Sakurauchi also expressed concern over the tendency for nations to resort to military measures to settle international disputes and to impose their will upon others through military intervention. He went on to present his views on the situation in Cambodia, Afghanistan, the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East and Poland. While attending the General Assembly, he exchanged opinions with his counterparts from many states including the United States and the Soviet Union.
Japan also participated actively in the discussion of major political questions such as the strengthening of the UN peace-keeping function and the problems of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Kampuchea, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and southern Africa.
(c) The most important development related to disarmament in 1982 was the Second Special Session of the UN General Assembly devoted to Disarmament held in June, attended by Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Susuki and other top leaders of the world. This event had a great political significance in that it displayed the earnest attitude of each nation toward disarmament. Many non-governmental organizations from Japan and Western nations expressed their views at this Special Session.
At the Special Session, Prime Minister Suzuki appealed for the "three principles of peace through disarmament," and submitted four working papers, which related to (i) the visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki of participants in the UN Disarmament Fellowship Program, (ii) strengthening of the role of the UN in the field of verification, (iii) installation in the UN of documentation and materials concerning Japan's atomic bomb experiences, and (iv) strengthening and expansion of the UN peace-keeping functions for the promotion of disarmament.
At the 37th session of the UN General Assembly, Japan joined in the sponsorship of seven resolutions, all of which were adopted, concerning the banning of all nuclear testing, a ban on chemical weapons, the prohibition of the production of fissionable materials for weapon purposes, and other matters related to disarmament.
The Committee on Disarmament established an Ad Hoc Working Group for studying the "verification and compliance" of the proposed comprehensive nuclear test ban, revised the mandate of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the chemical weapons ban, making it possible to conduct negotiations regarding the wording of treaties, and placed "the prevention of arms race in outer space" on the agenda. All these developments were in accord with what Japan had called for. Japan also contributed to the activities of the Committee on Disarmament in such ways as submitting a draft of selective protocol prohibiting an attack on nuclear facilities.
(d) Japan's active participation in UN activities extended to the economic field as well. Since developing countries account for a very large proportion of the UN members, most economic issues handled by the UN boil down to the North-South question. Efforts were continued to solve this question at various forums such as the UN General Assembly, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Development Program (UNDP), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
At the 37th session of the UN General Assembly, it was decided to establish an Intergovernmental Commission with a secretariat to conduct follow-up surveys of "the Nairobi Program of Action," which was adopted at the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy in August 1981, in order to cope with energy problems in developing countries.
In parallel with this dialogue between the North and the South on individual issues, energetic negotiations were continued between developed countries and the Group of 77 at the 37th UN General Assembly, on the basis of the agreement reached at the Versailles Summit in June, in order to launch the Global Negotiations (GN), one of the most important issues in the North-South problem. (Details of Japan's efforts toward solution of the North-South question are given in Section 2.2 of the present chapter.)