China has the largest population of any nation on Earth, and it is also a nuclear power, both of which make it an important nation whose wishes must be given serious weight in a diplomatic organization such as the United Nations.
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The countries that have a permanent seat at the UNSC are China, Russia, USA, UK and France.
The UNSC
If India were to accept this offer it would have been seen by the USSR and China as a decisive move by India to align itself with the US. As such by accepting the offer India would have sullied its ties with the USSR and China while at the same time not gaining any stronger ties with the US and neither the "offered" security council seat.
It can't be - the permanent five members of the Security Council have the power to SC resolutions proposed by others but if it is adopted by the UNSC it is binding on all member states of the UN. If a state does not comply, it could be let off simply by the UN not willing to go to the 'next stage' of action, especially if this could result in military action. North Korea has been ignoring the UN for years, either as a result of Russian/Chinese shielding, or the unwillingness of the UN to go to war in Korea...again.
There are ten non-permanent members of the UNSC who are selected on a two year basis, of which five are replaced every year. They are selected from a set of regional blocs. From the 1st of January, 2009 to the 31st of December, 2010:- Austria (Western Europe and Others) Japan (Asia) Mexico (Latin America and Caribbean) Turkey (Western Europe and Others) Uganda (Africa) From the 1st of January, 2010 to the 31st of December, 2011:- Bosnia and Herzegovina (Eastern Europe) Brazil (Latin America and Caribbean) Gabon (Africa) Lebanon (Asia and Arab) Nigeria (Africa) As above, there are a certain number of representatives from each of the regional blocs. Africa - 3 Latin America and Caribbean - 2 Asia - 2 Western Europe and Others - 2 Eastern Europe - 1 There must also be an "Arab" nation, alternatively from the Asian and African bloc. This is currently Lebanon, thus the group for 1st of January, 2011 to 31st of December, 2012, will have a representative from an Arab nation as part of the African group.