US condemned for largest UN membership dues, obstructing intl peace missions

By Xu Keyue Source: Global Times Published: 2020/10/21 21:00:35

Washington's arrears obstruct intl peace, multilateralism missions


Photo taken on Sept. 22, 2020 shows the general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York. (Rick Bajornas/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)


United Nations member states have urged the US, the country with the largest cumulative arrears, to pay its membership dues as soon as possible, as its unilateralism and disregard of the UN have seriously hampered the organization's peacekeeping operations and other missions.

US arrears are considered the main cause of the UN's current financial difficulties, which would obstruct the organization's work in sustaining peace and developing multilateralism.

UN official data shows that as of September 30, the US owed $1.09 billion in membership dues, or 73 percent of the total unpaid dues. Total unpaid peacekeeping expenses by member states amounted to $2.56 billion, of which the US owes $1.39 billion.

On October 16, a meeting of the Fifth Committee of the 75th Session of the General Assembly was held to discuss how to resolve the financial difficulties. Representatives from regional groups and member states called for payments in full and on time at the meeting. 

Ambassador Dai Bing, deputy representative of China to the UN, said at the meeting that finance serves as a foundation of and underpins UN governance.

Bai said that despite the dire financial situation of the UN and the Secretary-General's repeated calls for timely payment, one member state, with the capacity to pay, still withholds its assessed contributions and leverages them to serve its political agenda, pressing the UN and shifting the financial burden to other member states. "This is the major cause of the liquidity crisis. China expresses its serious concern in this regard," said Bai.

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the US has failed to pay membership dues since the 1990s after the Cold War, but the Trump administration is the most extreme US leader since the Cold War in upholding unilateralism and disregarding the UN.

The US believes the UN cannot serve its hegemony in the international community, so the country has always cunningly paid a token of membership dues before the deadline in order to maintain its voting rights in the UN with the least cost, Li said.

The UN said a member state whose arrears equal or exceed the contributions due for two preceding years can lose its vote in the General Assembly.

Infographic:GT

US membership arrears and its withdrawal from many international organizations and treaties, including UNESCO and the Paris Agreement, show that US President Donald Trump believes becoming a member of international organizations would hurt US interests, analysts said, which has backfired and harmed its national image and influence in the world.

In sharp contract, despite tremendous economic and fiscal pressure from the COVID-19 epidemic, China, as the second-largest financial contributor to UN assessed budgets and a responsible developing country, has paid its assessed contributions this year, Bai said.

Hua Chunying, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented on the issues in September, saying that China is paying close attention to the current financial difficulties of the UN, and is concerned that the huge gap in contributions may affect its normal functions. 

"We support the UN with concrete actions, and we will continue to earnestly fulfill our financial obligations to the UN as a developing country," Hua said.


Newspaper headline: US condemned for largest UN dues


Posted in: DIPLOMACY

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