A confident Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday laid out Japan's case for securing a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, in an online essay listing Japanese contributions to the body and to global development.
He said Japan is the second-largest financial donor to the United Nations and has provided more than $330 billion in official development assistance, underscoring that while the U.N. has quadrupled in size since its inception in 1945, the core of the Security Council remains unchanged.
"Based on our track record of bringing a global perspective to resolving issues in Africa and the Middle East, among other regions, and our commitment to making a proactive contribution to peace, I firmly believe that as a permanent member of the Security Council, Japan would provide a major impetus toward global peace and security," Abe wrote.