Photo/Illutration Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, left, addresses the U.N. Security Council meeting on Jan. 12. (Hiroki Tohda)

NEW YORK--As this month’s chair of the U.N. Security Council, Japan used the opportunity to drive home the theme of rule by international law in condemning Russia for its nearly year-long war against Ukraine.

Delivering a speech in English, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi stated Jan. 12: “The rule of law among nations is a universal concept. It is not about choosing camps. It is not about taking the middle ground between opposing camps. It is about returning to the unshakable principles that the Member States have built upon.”

Without respect for and implementation of international law, Hayashi said it would be impossible to maintain international peace and security. He called on all member states to abide by the U.N. Charter, its resolutions as well as rulings by international courts.

The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution in March 2022 calling for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, but no ceasefire is in sight.

Russia invaded its neighbor last Feb. 24.

“If agreements are not observed in good faith, then the rule of law does not exist and the world becomes a jungle of brute force and coercion,” Hayashi said.

While Russia bore the brunt of Hayashi’s criticism, China’s recent maritime advances into the East China and South China seas were clearly on his mind although he did not refer to the country by name.

“All Member States, large or small, can be free from the fear of brute force under the rule of law, but not under rule by force,” Hayashi said. “‘Uniting for the rule of law’ must be the keyword for us.” 

He also touched on an old chestnut, reform of the Security Council.

“No other organization can or should replace the U.N.,” Hayashi said. “The Security Council should be enlarged in both permanent and nonpermanent categories to better reflect the realities of the current world, not that of 78 years ago.”

Sharp divisions have arisen in the Security Council since the Russian invasion of Ukraine that have affected other issues coming before the body. For example, no unanimous resolution has been passed regarding the repeated ballistic missile launches by North Korea.

While many nations concurred with Hayashi’s views, Russia, for obvious reasons, was not among them.

Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador to the U.N., objected to Japan’s choice of theme for the debate. He also defended Russia’s attack on Ukraine and said, “Our former partner nations in the West now only want to sell the story that Russia bears all responsibility for creating a threat to international peace and security.”

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