October 25, 2021, is an important day for the People's Republic of China to restore its legitimate seat in the United Nations. The past 50 years have been 50 years of China's practice of multilateralism and 50 years of China's full participation in and support for the cause of the United Nations. In the past 50 years, China has also insisted on conscientiously fulfilling its financial obligations to the United Nations and paying its contributions and various assessed contributions on time. Next, nandu Big Data Research Institute will work with you to interpret China's changes in the proportion of UN contributions.
From 0.79 per cent to 12.005 per cent, < h1 toutiao-origin="h2"> China's share of the United Nations contribution increased by more than 15 times</h1>
The data show that 30 years ago, that is, from 1989 to 1991, China's assessment ratio of contributions to the United Nations was only 0.79%, and from 1998 to 2000, it rose to 0.995%, and since then the proportion has continued to increase. From 2019 to 2021, China's share of uncommunication contributions exceeded 12%, an increase of more than 15 times compared with 30 years ago, becoming the second largest contributor to the UN General Assembly after the United States.
Starting from 1.541 percent in 2001, China's share of the apportionment has soared nearly eightfold in the past two decades alone. Among them, the proportion of contributions assessed from 2013 to 2015 reached 5.148%, an increase of more than 60% over the previous budget cycle. From 2016 to 2018, the share of apportionment was 7.921%, an increase of 54% over the previous stage, ranking third after the United States and Japan.
In terms of the proportion of peacekeeping costs, China also rose from 10.24% in 2016 to 2018 to 15.22% in 2019-2021, or about US$500 million.
China has been the second largest contributor to the United Nations peacekeeping since 2016 and the second largest contributor to the General Assembly in 2019. What is the impact on China of paying more "share money" to the United Nations? Professor Liu Jiangyong of Tsinghua University said in an interview that as one of the five permanent members of the Five Councils, increasing China's contribution ratio to the United Nations is in line with the status of the five permanent members and is also an affirmation of China's economic ability. At the same time, the increase in the proportion of contributions will also enhance China's influence in the United Nations, and it will have more say in some important decisions.
China has paid its 2021 UN dues in full, <h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > the United States owes more than $2.4 billion</h1>
In April 2021, the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations stated that it had paid its 2021 contributions to the United Nations in full to the International Criminal Tribunal Residual Mechanism. At the same time, China has always fulfilled its financial obligations to the United Nations in a timely, full and unconditional manner in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, reflecting the due role of a responsible major country.
In contrast, the United States has always been a "big arrears" of the United Nations. According to the Budget of the United Nations, the United States should bear 22 per cent of the regular budget and about 28 per cent of the peacekeeping costs per annum at this stage. However, official documents show that as of September 30, 2020, the total unpaid contributions of UN Member States amounted to US$1.497 billion, and the United States owed US$1.09 billion, accounting for 73% of the total unpaid contributions. Member States' outstanding peacekeeping and related costs totalled $2.557 billion, of which the United States owed $1.388 billion. That is, as of Last September, the United States owed more than $2.4 billion in related fees to the United Nations.
As early as April this year, several former senior diplomats, including former US Secretary of State Albright, jointly published an article titled "The United States Must Pay the Arrears of the United Nations", calling on the United States to pay the arrears as soon as possible. There is no better way for the United States to salvage its credibility and moral authority than to pay its unpaid contributions. In addition, greenfield, the permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, warned Biden: "We can only keep our seats if we pay the bills as soon as possible, otherwise we will be off the table." ”
What are the consequences of arrears in payment to the United Nations? < h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > or be temporarily disenfranchised</h1>
In fact, the United States is not the only country that is in arrears in its contributions to the United Nations and related assessed contributions, and such "old lai behavior" is extremely harmful. As early as last October, the arrears of the United States and other countries led to a sharp reduction in daily expenses by the United Nations due to tight funding, and even almost closed its doors at one point.
In January 2021, the United Nations announced that seven countries, including Lebanon, Yemen, Venezuela, the Central African Republic and the Gambia, had cancelled their voting rights in the General Assembly for more than two years due to their arrears to the United Nations. Secretary-General António Guterres said that because the seven countries were in arrears and refused to pay their contributions, the United Nations had to take the necessary measures.
Nine months later, Iran and the Central African Republic were also deprived of voting rights in the United Nations General Assembly due to arrears reaching a certain amount. In this regard, Guterres revealed that the above-mentioned countries have been in arrears in their dues for more than two years, so they have been temporarily cancelled from voting rights. He further stated that the timely payment of contributions was a rule that all UN Member States must abide by and that the decision to deal with it was also in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter.
In accordance with Article 19 of the Charter of the United Nations, in the event of arrears of contributions beyond the control of a Member State, authorization may be granted to allow that Member State to vote. In fact, in addition to the above two countries, there are also countries such as Somalia and the Comoros that are in arrears in their contributions, but their voting rights will be retained until the end of the 75th session.
In addition, the amount of contributions paid by the Members of the United Nations should be based on the proportion approved by the Contributors Committee, based on various factors, such as the country's GDP, population and actual level of payment, and the proportion of the contribution burden of each country is verified and adjusted every three years, and then submitted to the General Assembly for review resolution. From 2000 to the present, the ceiling on the share of contributions of the United Nations has been maintained at 22 per cent and the lower limit at 0.001 per cent, i.e., the share of contributions of any one Member State will not be higher than 22 per cent of the total regular budget, nor less than 0.001 per cent.
Producer: Nandu Big Data Research Institute
Data collection and analysis: Chen Zeran
Draft: Shen Shuting
Data source: official website of the United Nations, website of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, public media reports
Statistical deadline: October 25, 2021