Visiting French President Jacques Chirac told Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Sunday that France will support Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. During their talks, part of a three-day official visit by Chirac to Japan, the two leaders agreed that the Security Council should be expanded in terms of both permanent and nonpermanent memberships, and pledged to try to realize that expansion along with other U.N. reforms at a U.N. global summit planned for September. According to a declaration released after the bilateral talks in Tokyo, entitled: "New Partnership between Japan and France", Chirac and Koizumi also agreed to work on getting North Korea to return to six-country talks on its nuclear weapons programme. Chirac and Koizumi are believed to have also addressed Japan's concerns about European Union moves to lift a 1989 arms embargo on China. On Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said in a news conference that an embargo removal would create a "big problem" for Japan and the world. "Basically, Japan shares the concern with the United States that it is a big problem in view of Asia's stability if exports from Europe of significant weapons resume or increase," Hosoda said. France is believed to be a leading advocate of the European Union's plan to lift its 1989 arms embargo. The two leaders also reaffirmed the importance of their countries' role in the Middle East peace process and called for Syria to immediately withdraw its troops from Lebanon. Earlier Sunday, Chirac visited the site of the 2005 World Exposition in central Aichi Prefecture, about 300 kilometers west of Tokyo. Chirac arrived in Japan on Saturday. He is scheduled to hold talks with representatives of the French community in Japan and meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace before leaving Japan on Monday.
