UN General Assembly
2004

the Security Council. We believe that the role that Japan has played provides a solid basis for its assumption of permanent membership of the Security Council. In order to better reflect today's world, it is also necessary to remove the 'enemy State' clauses from the Charter, as the General Assembly has already recognized those provisions to be obsolete. The scale of assessments for Member States needs to be more balanced. Next year, the United Nations will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary. We will hold a high-level plenary meeting to review progress on all of the commitments in the Millennium Declaration. Development, global security and United Nations reform are all high on the agenda. Changes are needed on all fronts. The time has come to make a historic decision to reform the United Nations, and the Security Council in particular. Time is limited. Our future - the future of the United Nations - is at stake. I would like to call upon the members of this body to work together and take a