Japan aims for China and UNSC in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Arriving in Jakarta on Thursday evening to attend the Asian- African Summit here on Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has two main targets in his sights: China and a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Sitting down with Chinese President Hu Jintao to calm the currently highly charged relations between the two countries will be the first priority during his three-day visit to Indonesia.

Although the Chinese government has said that it was still considering Japan's proposal for a Jakarta bilateral summit, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura sounded very optimistic about the meeting.

"I am confident the meeting will definitely take place," Machimura said. He added that the meeting would likely take place on Friday.

Koizumi plans to visit tsunami-hit Aceh on Saturday, before the summit leaders attend the 50th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung on Sunday.

"We will make the announcement when we have the information," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday, as quoted by Agence-Presse France.

In Beijing, the Chinese government sent a conciliatory message to Japan by warning demonstrators not to act against the law. Violent anti-Japanese protests erupted in several cities in China following the Japanese government's approval of a controversial history textbook. The government is apparently also worried that the violent demonstrations might backfire against itself.

According to Reuters, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Chinese should not take part in unapproved protests that could "affect social stability".

Meanwhile, Koizumi is also expected to announce a major increase in Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA), the country's strongest diplomatic lever in getting more support for its ambition to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Japan was the largest donor in the world for 10 years up to 2000.

Machimura said Africa would get a bigger portion of Japan's ODA. "We want to increase our ODA in order to achieve the goals of our development assistance. But from next fiscal year onwards, we hope to increase ODA, particularly to Africa," said Machimura, adding that the Japanese prime minister himself was expected to announce the new policy on Friday during the summit.

Japan is the second largest contributor to the UN budget, contributing 19.46 percent of the total budget, while the United States contributes 22 percent. Japan's contribution is 4.37 percent more than the total contribution of all other permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom.