What does it feel like to be an old man with the United States? China has also begun to "join if it can't fight"!
It is not uncommon for the United States to default on its membership dues to the United Nations, but China is the party that actively pays and condemns the United States. Unlike previous years, this year's UN dues have been paid by 97 member states as of early April, including none of the United States, nor China, which is the most heavily owed by the United States.
In addition, Russia did not pay its dues, and the three major powers of China, the United States, and Russia all made such a choice.
So, what is the impact on the United Nations, and why are these three powers doing so?
1. Basic information on the payment of United Nations contributions
Recently, an important staff member of the United Nations said that the current situation of the United Nations has encountered difficulties in cash flow, and it is difficult to carry out relevant rescue arrangements and dispatch work.
However, unlike in the past, the United Nations' "crying poverty" seems to be in a state of no one's attention, and every time China "cries poverty" in the past, China will be the first to express comfort and pay funds, but this time, the United States, Russia, and China have all stood by and watched.
You must know that China has always been a good student, and the payment of membership dues is also in a "leading position", which is different from the United States, which has always been a laid-back, but why does China choose to "join if it can't beat" this year?
As everyone knows, the United Nations is currently the world's largest non-profit intergovernmental international organization composed of sovereign countries in the world, with 193 member states, and the United Nations membership dues are paid by the member states according to their economic strength, and the expenses required to maintain the normal operation of the United Nations organs are no different from party fees and mission fees.
According to the survey, the United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations because of its strongest economy, while China, as the second largest economy, is the second largest contributor to the United Nations, and Japan is the third.
According to the regulations, the regular budget of the United Nations was established every two years, and starting in 1974, the maximum contribution limit for countries could not exceed 25 per cent of the entire budget
Regulations are regulations, theories are theories, and there is always some room for operation in practice, and this sentence is vividly reflected in the United States and other countries.
Although 40 or 50 countries are in arrears in their annual contributions to the United Nations, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, leaving the United Nations helpless, the United States, the world's largest power, which has always claimed to be the "world's policeman" and is extremely responsible and has the ability to lead the world, is in arrears of more than one billion dollars.
This act of the United States has been condemned by the United Nations on several occasions and has also been despised by other countries and peoples in the world -- it is not easy for Lao Lai to be cheeky for so many years.
According to the regulations of the United Nations, the payment of United Nations dues should be determined by the total income, gross domestic product, foreign exchange reserves, and other major economic factors of each country, with the United States having a ceiling of 22 percent and an amount of 760 million yuan, and the mainland apportioning 15.2 percent of the total, with an amount of 530 million.
This proportion is basically in line with the background checks conducted by the United Nations on countries - developed countries are relatively high, and developing countries are naturally lower.
However, 22 percent is a very ordinary figure for the economic power of the United States, because the United States must be able to pay more than 22 percent of its dues.
Even so, the United States is still arrogant, believing that it is the largest contributor to the United Nations, so the long-term arrears will inevitably take control of the United Nations and hinder the normal operation of the United Nations because of the issue of membership dues, and take the opportunity to control the voice of the United Nations organs in its own hands.
Compared with the United States, China is not only a first-class good student, but also a country that gives the United Nations a special face.
15% is still too high for the mainland's total economic output, after all, nearly half of the mainland's population has a monthly income of less than 140 US dollars, although the mainland is the second largest economy in the world, but in terms of GDP ratio, 15% is still a very high figure. Even so, the mainland will pay its UN dues every year, except in 2024.
2. Why Russia and the United States have an opinion on the United Nations
The deadline for paying contributions to the United Nations is about the beginning of each year, with a deadline of almost a month, but in practice there are all kinds of strange situations - every country is dragging its feet, especially the United States.
European countries, on the other hand, are different from the United States in that they happily pay money and draw a clear line with the United States in this regard, while the United States is classified as a poor country like Afghanistan, and those who cannot pay it at the beginning of the year will be delayed until the middle of the year, and those who cannot pay it in the middle of the year will be delayed until the end of the year if they find reasons not to pay it. As long as it is handed in at the end of the year, it is not considered in arrears.
It is worth noting that the year-end payment means that the United Nations is in short supply for that year.
Therefore, the way of the United States is disgusting and speechless, and the United Nations is not a very powerful institution, so they can only beg grandpa and grandmother everywhere to ask the major powers to pay their dues quickly, otherwise the work of this year will not be carried out.
On November 15, 2023, the spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General, Du Jialik, announced that China has fully paid this year's UN membership dues, amounting to US$490,830,444.
It has to be said that when Dujaric announced the news, many people in the country had an embarrassed look on their faces - because the mainland, like the United States, gradually dragged out the payment of membership dues until the end of the year.
In 2023, China will directly side with Russia on the side of the United States in 2023, and it will be even more difficult to pay the UN dues in arrears in 2024.
Each of these three countries has its own reasons, and the payment of Russia's contributions is very complicated.
Taking 2023 as an example, Russia's membership fee will account for about 1.87%, 600 million US dollars, although this figure is far lower than that of China and the United States, but Russia has been slow and has not paid it happily.
In April 2024, the three world powers, the United States, China, and Russia, will not pay their dues, and countries around the world are a little surprised——, it is normal for the United States not to pay its dues, and it is normal for Russia to have no cash flow, so why is China?
Actually, this question is reasonable, because the United States and Russia have other reasons for paying their contributions. The first time the United States did not want to pay its membership dues was in 2011, when they found an excuse to claim that "UNESCO violated the domestic laws of the United States", because at that time, UNESCO expressed its willingness to admit Palestine as a member state, and this notice did not match the layout of the United States overseas, so the United States played a scoundrel.
Non-payment of membership dues has become an important reason for the United States to threaten the United Nations at every turn, and in 2017, Trump used this reason to claim that he wanted to "withdraw from UNESCO".
It can be seen from this that there is a contradiction between the United States and UNESCO, as long as UNESCO listens to the "advice" of the United States, then the United States will pay its dues, and on the contrary, the United States will say that it will "not play".
Russia's non-payment of its contributions is due to new events in recent years. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, Russia has been fighting on both internal and external fronts. On the outside, they are facing pressure from Ukraine and NATO and the United States behind them, while on the inside is the pressure from the United Nations on Russia.
Less than a month after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the UN Under-Secretary-General said that "3.9 billion US dollars will be provided to Ukraine for humanitarian assistance".
This move has caused Russia to be very angry: We pay so much money every year, the purpose is to let you maintain world peace and uphold fairness and justice, not let you come to help the weak and small countries you think!
In the eyes of Russia, the United Nations seems to be kneeling and licking the United States and obeying its leadership, so they have lost their temper and expressed their unwillingness to continue to pay their dues.
In fact, it is not reasonable for Russia to think so, after all, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky danced with joy after hearing about the humanitarian aid of the United Nations, and they claimed: This is in line with the humanitarian rescue spirit of the United Nations, so as to ensure that many of their own people can survive the war.
As a result, the two countries set off a war of scolding. Ukraine believes that Russia has launched a war of aggression and violated international humanitarianism, and Russia claims that it is a wolf's ambition that you are constantly encroaching on the territory around the mainland under the pretext of being weak.
What makes Russia even more angry is that the United Nations ignored the various reasons why Russia had no choice but to send troops, and directly provided funds to Ukraine
In February 2023, the Russian Foreign Minister publicly issued a statement saying that he would suspend the payment of contributions to the United Nations in order to protect Russia's rights and interests. It can be seen from this that Russia is angry with the United Nations in this matter.
3. The reasons why China has not paid its membership dues so far
The attitude of the United States has become clear that Russia is because of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and what is the reason for China?
It is worth mentioning that in November 2023, the United Nations held a speech in which they warmly thanked China for paying its membership in full.
At this point in time, China's practice of defaulting on its dues to the United Nations is the same as that of the United States. However, a careful study of the provisions of the United Nations shows that in fact, neither China nor the United States can be regarded as "in arrears," but can only be regarded as "procrastinating and not paying," not "owing."
The Charter of the United Nations provides that any Member State that is in arrears with the financial contributions of the United Nations shall lose its right to vote in the General Assembly if the amount in arrears equals or exceeds the amount of its contributions due for the preceding two years.
For example, the United States paid its dues in 2022 for 2020, and its dues for 2022 will not be paid until 2024, that is, the payment will be made on the penalty date, and the United Nations will not be able to take the United States, and it will not even be able to make excuses for pressure.
In addition, China has also begun to learn from this practice of the United States - dragging, so what is the reason for China's "dragging"?
Due to the impact of the epidemic, although China's economy has been making steady progress in recent years, it is still lacking compared with the rapid development of previous years, so in 2023, China will barely pay all its membership dues at the end of the year, which can be regarded as a contribution to the United Nations General Assembly.
But this also leads to another situation - the payment of membership dues will only be completed at the end of 2023, and the membership dues will be paid again in February this year, and the timeline between them is too tight for China to bear.
After the National People's Congress convened in March 2023, the item on membership fees has been deliberated many times.
It can be seen that the domestic situation must be taken into account, if all the money is given to the United Nations, then the domestic people's livelihood will not be able to be taken into account simultaneously, therefore, the mainland has to learn the American method - first delay and do not owe, let alone owe two years like the United States, perhaps at the end of this year, the 2024 membership fee will be fully paid.
After all, China is the largest developing country in the world, and the road to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the future is just around the corner.
Compared with the United States, which has repeatedly used the excuse of withdrawing from the group and not paying fees, and Russia not paying for the Russia-Ukraine war under the pretext of not paying for it, China has always paid its membership dues in full in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter.
The world situation has undergone tremendous changes, the United Nations is no longer the sole power of the United States, and outside the United Nations, many world regional organizations have been established, and China has many places to spend money overseas.
Reference: The United Nations can't afford to open the escalator just because the United States owes money - China Economic Net
The United States intends to return to UNESCO, and more than $600 million in arrears are to be paid - Beijing News
The United Nations will provide more humanitarian aid to Ukraine – Xinhuanet