US on UNSC
Latest word on the expansion of permanent membership to the UN Security Council:
The contents of US policy on the reform of the United Nations Security Council, to be released this month, have been revealed. The major focal point is how to expand the number of permanent seats, and on that issue, the pillars of the US’s position are (1) the criteria for selection [of new permanent member states] should give more weight to “degree of contribution” to the UN than to regional balance, (2) that new members should not be granted veto power, and (3) that the number of new members should be kept to a minimum.
Even in the Nikkei article, “degree of contribution” is in quotation marks; presumably, it was not elaborated on. Japan is the second-largest monetary contributor to the UN, but the PRC is a UNSC member that already has veto power.