22 Million?!!

[jugle]

Does this even qualify as anything close to remarkable, or has this long since become business-as-usual?

22 Million Chinese Seek to Block Japan's Bid to Join U.N. Council


I'm stateside, and I'd be curious to hear the locals weigh in on this.

[devicenull]

Eh, it's 22 million. China won't let Japan on the council, nor will Russia, it's pretty cut and dry. Also, please tell me what a NON-MILITARY nation is going to contribute in return for that kind of power. Japan has nothing of any value to contribute apart from worthless troops who require another nation to send bodyguards to keep them safe.

[Big Booger]

But the campaign also has the potential to restrict China's diplomatic leeway, making it harder to reach a quiet compromise. China could also feel pressured to veto the whole United Nations overhaul if the plan promotes Japan, an unusual position for a country that has rarely used its veto power.

I can't wait to see how this plays out.

[gkanai]

Japan has nothing of any value to contribute apart from worthless troops who require another nation to send bodyguards to keep them safe.

Don't forget the yen. Japan is one of the largest, if not THE largest, donator to the UN. If they lose the seat because of China, they'll drop funding completely, I'm sure.

[cstaylor]

Don't forget the yen. Japan is one of the largest, if not THE largest, donator to the UN. If they lose the seat because of China, they'll drop funding completely, I'm sure.

And probably cut off all ODA funding as well. China will have to fund their space program through other means.

[Socratesabroad]

First off, a few remarks about the Chinese 'grass-roots' petition campaign:

1)As a resident of China, I'm curious as to how grass-roots the campaign really is. Keep in mind media is state-controlled, so Chinese media reports=Chinese government position.

2)'The petition effort, conducted through popular Chinese Web sites'
Oh, a web-based petition. Now that'll be accurate. Imagine a petition of the posters to this board...


3)There's no lack of anti-Japanese sentiment (well maybe except in Dalian). But the vast majority of Chinese have never even met a Japanese, much less held a conversation with them, and base their views on available information (too bad about those governmental Internet restrictions) and the media (see point 1).

4)And if this campaign suceeds, will all the Japanese-owned firms and factories in China simply accept it?

Don't forget the yen. Japan is one of the largest, if not THE largest, donator to the UN. If they lose the seat because of China, they'll drop funding completely, I'm sure.

Gen's right: Japan is the biggest aid donor and the second largest contributor to the regular budget of the United Nations.
http://www.jca.apc.org/web-news/corpwatch-jp/63.html
If Japan doesn't get more of a say, then given current Japanese economics and political sentiment leaning to the right it'd be easy to imagine them dropping funding.

Add to that the effect of scaring off Japanese companies in China, which sorely needs the source of foreign investment. They could always, say, move their operations to India.