Commentary: Can it be one's own wishful thinking?

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the would-be "operations" of the 60-year-old organization will start. Recently Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations introduced to the General Assembly a comprehensive report to reform the organization. There are two proposals on the expansion of the organization Annan offered for all member countries to consider. Annan suggested the proposals be decided before the summit conference of all the national leaders, which will be held in September this year.

Therewith Japan is acting anomaly in full swing and is bidding for votes globally in an effort to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

And yet, the situation development has made Japan start to feel anxious as Japan is determined to get: firstly, the name-signing petition activities launched by non-government forces in Asia against Japan becoming a UNSC permanent member are spreading the world over. Dozens of million people have signed their names online, which is a situation ironically.

A country strives to get a seat as a UNSC permanent member representing the Asian and Pacific region. However it cannot win trust from local people at first and, on the contrary, it has suffered strong boycott from the people of many countries in this region, which, certainly, should make Japan reflect on its past.

Secondly, there appear great divergences on the UN's reform contents, orientation and progress schedule on the part of all members of the United Nations. Many developing countries deem that the reform report makes light of development problem; countries including Italy, South Korea and Mexico have expressed clearly that they are opposed to the increase of permanent member countries; countries including the United States, Russia and China object to setting a timetable for the reforms of the Security Council as proposed by the UN secretary-general.

On April 11, representatives from more than 110 countries held a meeting in New York, appealing to solve the issue of Security Council expansion by the way of unanimous negotiations. It is no doubt that time is needed for the unanimous negotiations and forced vote can only cause division and antagonism.

Thirdly, the subtle change in the United States' attitude makes Japan feel suspicious. Although the United States expressed to support Japan to become a UNSC permanent member, the latest US attitude shows that US is opposed to taking the reform as the central task of the UN summit conference.

The Japanese government should be clear that the United Nations' reform including the increase of the permanent members of the Security Council is not a general action, which involves the revision of the United Nations Charter.

According to the 108 clause of the charter, the revision of the charter should be decided by 2/3 UN member countries' vote and will come into effect after the approval by 2/3 UN members including the five permanent member countries according to their constitutional procedures.

It will be seen from that it will not be one's wishful thinking to become a permanent UNSC member if it wants to become. There are strict procedural limitations with crossing many "passes".

For the moment no matter how other countries' augment influences Japanese prospect for becoming a permanent member of the Security Council, the Japanese authorities should correct its attitude towards the history of its aggression and seek the true compromise with its Asian neighbors.

In Europe German sincere repentance and apology win forgiveness from its neighbors and a powerful and united Europe is emerging with a new look; in Asia the Japanese government's lack of reflections on its past and its most aggressive attitude make its neighbors feel uneasy. The diverged Northeast Asia fell into an historically difficult situation.

People have every reason to suspect if Japan is qualified as an Asian representative to do its international duties with a lack of correct recognition of history and deep reflections on its past and without the trust from Asian people. Even Annan has publicly expressed that Japan must first all convince its Asian neighbors before seeking to play a more important role in the United Nations and have direct dialogues with them on the issue of history.

Sixty years have passed since the Second World War and Japan is eager to be a "normal country" to participate in international affairs. However, what stands in Japanese way to become a "normal country" is just that the politicians of the Japanese authorities lack the normal ability for a country and national leaders to directly face up to history and reflect on its past.

It is only a starting point to build up a correct attitude when facing up to history. Japan should make itself restricted in intemperately seeking so-called "national interests" if it wants convincingly to become a permanent UNSC member country for maintaining world peace and security.

The Japanese government has hit the issues of Diaoyu Islands and Dokdo (Japan calls it as Liancourt) and its intransigent words and behaviors make its neighbors indignant without understanding; why does Japan show such an intransigently diplomatic gesture when dialogues and cooperation have become an international mainstream?

The main reasons may be: idle suspicions towards China's rapid development, the sustained domestically right-wing politics and achieving realist interests by all possible means in the process of building a big country.

Some Japanese officials and right-wing people stressed recently that Japan avoided the use of "national interests" in the past because there were some "unnecessary consideration" due to the past war. And today the contraindication has passed. Questions will be settled as soon as possible as long as Japan insists on its own claims.

As for Japan who wants to become a permanent UNSC member country representing Asia, it must solve both an old and new issue: does it want to become a Western Japan or an Asian Japan?

It is known to all that Japanese external factor in Asia is the existence and strengthening of the Japanese-US alliance. Some people in Japan have inclination to connect with the strong. In the post-Cold War era, the Japanese-US Asian strategy is focused on the restraint of China. As a result Japan quickens its steps towards big power both politically and militarily by use of this.

But today Asian economy has developed by leaps and bounds, which no one in Japanese economic circles can deny and Japanese opportunities are in Asia and China. Some scholars in Japan have pointed out it is an enormous mistake for Japan to engage in antagonism against China and to fall into a conflict "trap" with China, showing lack of wisdom. Japan should try to make friends with China first of all.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Japan falls into dreaming of a new start. If it wants to convince Asian neighbors, Japan must create some necessary realist conditions for people to have their conception changed.

And yet the key to solving the difficult historical situation and starting the future is in the hand of Japan. Japanese government should have its advisable choice.

By People's Daily Online