JAPAN: The government said today that it would freeze voluntary funding for the United Nations committee on the elimination of discrimination against women (Cedaw) after it called for an end to the country’s male-only imperial succession rule.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Toshihiro Kitamura told Cedaw on Monday that it would be excluded from a list of recipients of Japan’s annual voluntary contributions.

Today, Mr Kitamura claimed that the imperial succession did not violate the basic rights of women or constitute discrimination against women.