China requests reform of the UN Security Council

China's top diplomat Wang Yi has called for developing countries, especially those in Africa, to have more of a say at the UN Security Council. He said the reform should uphold fairness and justice, increase the representation and voice of developing countries, and redress historical injustices against Africa. The remarks were made ahead of talks on reforming the Security Council, with Kuwait and Vienna presiding over the negotiations. Wang expressed hope that a consensus will be reached to reform the UN Security Council. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed his desire to increase the representation of developing countries in the body.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that true multilateralism requires the UN to adapt to the objective tendencies of the forming multipolar architecture in international relations. US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and India’s envoy Ruchira Kamboj also spoke in favor of UNSC reform. In its current form, the UN Security Council consists of five permanent members, each with the power of veto, and ten non-permanent members, selected biennially by the UN General Assembly. Japan is also among the ten current non-permanent members.