Foreign Minister Hayashi highlights rule of law in jab at Russia, China

Tokyo, 13 January, /AJMEDIA/

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Thursday emphasized the importance of the rule of law at a U.N. meeting, demanding Russia withdraw from Ukraine while opposing muscle-flexing amid China’s maritime assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

With Japan holding the rotating monthly presidency of the U.N. Security Council in January, Hayashi told an open debate session in New York that maintaining international peace and security cannot be achieved unless international law is respected.

“Let us unite ourselves, once again, around the principle of the rule of law. ‘Uniting for the rule of law’ must be the keyword for us,” Hayashi said.

The gathering comes as the Group of Seven industrialized nations and like-minded countries have condemned Moscow over its almost yearlong invasion of Ukraine, calling it an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force in violation of international law.

Hayashi said that an order by the International Court of Justice in March for Russia to completely withdraw its troops from Ukraine “must be implemented immediately,” adding that the principle of the rule of law “never allows any country to rewrite borders by force or through the flexing of muscles.”

The Japanese minister also underscored that deployment of armed personnel to territory under the peaceful administration of another nation to “create a fait accompli” cannot be justified through arbitrary interpretations of international law.

Although he refrained from singling out any nation, Hayashi made the remarks in a veiled criticism against China, according to a Japanese government official, given Chinese military ships have repeatedly entered waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The Tokyo-controlled uninhabited islets are claimed by Beijing, which calls them Diaoyu.

Hayashi also said it is vital to enhance the functions of the United Nations as “the bulwark of multilateralism and the rule of law,” and Security Council reform is the “most pressing” task.

The world body has been widely viewed as dysfunctional in addressing Moscow’s war in Ukraine, due largely to the veto power of Russia and China, which hold two of the five permanent seats on the 15-member council along with the United States, Britain and France.

Both the council’s permanent and nonpermanent seats should be expanded so that nations, especially those in Africa, are included to “better reflect the realities of the current world,” Hayashi said.

Japan has advocated for reform of the council and has long aspired to become a permanent member.

This month, Japan started a two-year term as a nonpermanent Security Council member.

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