U.S. in Face-Off With U.N. Hopefuls
Washington, along
with China and Russia, wants to delay vote on a bigger Security
Council. Four aspiring nations vow to push ahead anyway.
By Maggie Farley
Times Staff Writer
June 9, 2005
UNITED NATIONS — The United States, China and Russia are trying to
delay a vote to expand the Security Council before a summit here in
September, diplomats say, but four countries aspiring to proposed new
permanent seats declared Wednesday that they would defy U.S. pressure
and push for a key resolution this month.
In a conference call Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
told foreign ministers from the other countries with permanent seats on
the Security Council — China, Russia, Britain and France — that the
U.S. wanted to postpone this month's vote, possibly until after the
summit in September, ambassadors from two of the countries said.
But the hopefuls known as the G-4 — Germany, Japan, India and Brazil —
said U.S. resistance would not deter them.
"Possibly it may hasten the vote," said Indian Ambassador Nirupam Sen.
"I don't think it will delay it."
Japan's U.N. ambassador, Kenzo Oshima, fought to correct media reports
that Japan had agreed to push back the vote.
"The United States is an important member, but it is only one member,"
Oshima said.
On Wednesday, the group circulated a new draft of a resolution that
would change the United Nations Charter to allow six more countries to
become permanent members of the Security Council — including two
unnamed African countries — and add 10 rotating seats. The council now
has five veto-holding permanent members and 10 members elected to
two-year terms.
The new draft does not spell out whether the
new members would have veto power — which the five permanent Security
Council members oppose — but implies that they would forgo the veto for
at least 15 years, when the decision would be reviewed.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended restructuring the council
to make the U.N. better reflect new "political realities" and better
able to cope with new security threats in a world that has changed
dramatically since the organization's creation 60 years ago. He
expressed a preference for consensus, but if arguments threatened to
delay action, he said, the matter should be put to a vote so that world
leaders can decide in September.
Two-thirds of the 191-member
General Assembly must first vote to amend the charter to expand the
council, a public ballot tentatively scheduled for the end of June.
Then they must select the six new permanent members, ideally in July,
before ambassadors leave for the August holiday.
Then
two-thirds of U.N. member nations — and all five permanent members of
the council — must ratify the amendment for it to take effect. Even if
the General Assembly overwhelmingly approves the change, the U.S. or
China could kill the amendment simply by refusing to approve it.
That threat hangs over the intense lobbying that is preceding this
month's vote. China has made it known that it does not want to see
Japan, its regional rival, gain a stronger diplomatic voice. Chinese
Ambassador Wang Guangya has called the G-4's push for a vote "divisive"
and "dangerous" and said China would do everything it could to block it.
Russia has sided with China and wants to keep the Security Council as
is, fearing a diminution of its power.
The United States has endorsed only Japan for a permanent seat, noting
that the nation gives more money to the world body than Britain,
France, Russia and China combined. Rice, after meeting with German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, declined to endorse Germany's bid but
said the U.S. had made "no determination or decision" about it.
Rice also said the U.S. needed more time to sort out the implications
of a larger Security Council for the global balance of power and
reforms at the U.N.
France broke with the rest of the permanent
members Tuesday, lending its weight to Germany's goals by cosponsoring
the G-4 resolution. Britain supports the resolution but has not decided
whether to sponsor it.
That puts the Americans in the
uncomfortable position of siding with the Chinese and Russians. The
fight over Security Council expansion also threatens to derail
essential reforms under negotiation.
"It's not that we don't
want change. We are very much for U.N. reform," said Richard A.
Grenell, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to the world body. "We just
have to figure out the best way to do it. Security Council reform is
just one piece of the puzzle."
