Japan is not qualified to be a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, Chinese Ministry pf Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
Mao's remarks echoed the speech of Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, at the General Assembly's annual debate on Security Council reform on Tuesday. Fu stressed that Japan is in no position to demand permanent membership.
"Under the United Nations Charter, the Security Council bears the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. During World War II, Japan waged wars of aggression that inflicted profound suffering upon the peoples of Asia and the world. To this day, Japan has failed to reflect on its wartime crimes thoroughly. Some individuals continue to propagate a wrong historical perspective of World War II, visit the Yasukuni Shrine, and distort, deny, or even glorify the history of aggression," said Mao.
"Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently made blatantly erroneous remarks concerning Taiwan, crudely interfering in China's internal affairs, trampling on international law and basic norms of international relations, and challenging the post-WWII international order. Such a country cannot shoulder the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security and is unqualified to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council," the spokeswoman continued.
Japan unqualified for permanent seat on UN Security Council: spokeswoman
U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Monday, with modest declines across major benchmarks as investors monitored rising oil prices amid renewed uncertainty in the Middle East.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.01 percent to 49,442.56. The S and P 500 sank 0.24 percent to 7,109.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.26 percent to 24,404.39.
Six of the 11 primary S and P 500 sectors closed higher, led by materials and financials with gains of 0.56 percent and 0.34 percent, respectively. Communication services and health care were the main laggards, declining 1.41 percent and 0.93 percent, respectively.
Traders remain cautious about pricing in a worst-case scenario for the ongoing conflict, even as stocks have recovered from near-correction territory to all-time highs in recent weeks.
Oil prices jumped sharply on Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery surged 6.87 percent to settle at 89.61 U.S. dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery gained 5.64 percent to settle at 95.48 dollars per barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
While investors continue to monitor developments in the Middle East, attention is expected to gradually shift back to fundamental factors, according to Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity.
"It is important to remember that the market was not cheap before the war started, and the recent rally has only brought us back slightly past breakeven for the year," he said. "We expect investors will soon once again turn their attention to more fundamental issues -- valuations, earnings potential, inflation, the economy, the labor markets, and Fed policy."
Shares of most of the "Magnificent Seven" technology giants ended lower on Monday. Tesla, which is scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday, declined 2.03 percent.
Marvell Technology rose nearly 6 percent to an all-time high after a report over the weekend said the chipmaker was in talks to design new custom artificial intelligence chips for Google.
U.S. stocks close lower as oil prices surge on renewed Mideast tensions
