The recent news from the United Nations simply makes people gasp-because there is not enough money to spend, 2,681 people have to be laid off! Knowing that there are only more than 12,000 employees in the United Nations, more than one fifth of them have been laid off at once, it is no exaggeration to say that "disaster is imminent". The core issue of this financial crisis cannot be avoided by two big countries: China and the United States, both of which owe their dues to the United Nations. But don't think that this matter is "50 steps to laugh at a hundred steps". The nature of "owing money" between China and the United States is not even worse.
According to the latest data released by the United Nations, as of the third quarter of this year, membership and peacekeeping deficits have reached a record high. The consequences of not using enough money have become apparent: the initially planned global vaccine aid program has been forced to shrink, food relief in African famine areas can not be delayed, and even the United Nations headquarters elevator repair is in line, not to mention this big cut-off. Secretary-General Guterres recently cried out publicly: “We can’t get the money anymore, we can’t sustain even basic operations.”
On the list of arrears, the United States occupies the top spot all the year round. What's more, this "Lao Lai" behavior in the United States has not been going on for a day or two. In the past ten years, the dues have not been paid properly, and the arrears can reach $3 billion at most. The key reason why the United States owes debts is that it simply regards the United Nations as its own back garden-either it says that the resolutions of the United Nations are not in the interests of the United States, or it uses the cut of funds as a bargaining chip to force the United Nations to do what it wants.
The most typical example is that in 2017, the Trump administration directly froze a huge membership fee because it was dissatisfied with the United Nations aid policy to Palestine. The US $500 million that should have been paid to the United Nations was cut off by Trump. He even threatened to terminate funding for other United Nations agencies such as UNESCO. To put it bluntly, the "money owed" of the United States is essentially "hegemonic default", kidnapping the United Nations by financial means and using membership fees as a tool to achieve its own political goals. You must know that the United States, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, bears 22% of its membership dues, and its obligations that should have been fulfilled have suddenly turned into threatening capital.
Looking at China's situation, at present, China's arrears of dues are about 300 million US dollars, mainly because the regular budget and some peacekeeping assessments in the second half of this year have not been paid. However, unlike the deliberate default of the United States, China's arrears are more of a "procedural delay" and there is a clear payment plan. Anyone familiar with the rules of the United Nations knows that member states pay their dues according to the fiscal year and budget cycle. Some of this year's payments already have a certain grace period for payment. Coupled with some adjustments in the foreign exchange settlement process in recent months, there has been a temporary unpaid situation.
More importantly, China has always been a “reliable contributor” to UN funding. According to the data, between 2019 and 2023, China’s cumulative contributions and peacekeeping deposits exceeded $12 billion, and there has never been a long-term malicious delay. When the 2020 epidemic was the worst, many countries around the world delayed payments, and China still paid the majority of the amount on time, and was also praised by the United Nations at the time.
In fact, from the overall attitude of the two countries to the United Nations, you can see the root of this difference. The United States has always taken the United Nations as a tool for safeguarding its hegemony, when it is useful to take it as a "backbook", when it is not necessary to kick off, debt is only the manifestation of this hegemony thinking. These years the United States withdrew from UNESCO, tear the Paris Agreement, delay the WHO funds, how not to take its own interests above the international organization? This time the United Nations cuts, the United States in the mouth said "concern", turn to announce to cut another $ 100 million of voluntary contributions, but in fact is in violation of the United Nations affairs, China has always been very responsible, actively participated, as the second-largest
With more than 50,000 peacekeepers deployed over the years, China is the country with the largest number of peacekeepers deployed among the permanent members of the Security Council; China has also been advancing cooperation through the UN framework on issues such as climate change and global poverty reduction.
Ironically, the U.S. owes the most, but is still attacking other countries, and recently, the U.S. delegate has also accused China of "debt contributions affect the operation of the United Nations".This is simply a bad first indictment, the U.S. now still owes the United Nations $ 2 billion, the U.S. cleared this account, the United Nations finance is not going to fall into crisis.
The current financial crisis of the United Nations is essentially the epitome of the collision between "hegemonism" and "multilateralism". The United States undermines international rules by owing dues, while China fulfills its obligations on the premise of abiding by the rules. As more and more countries stand up against the hegemonic behavior of the United States, 12 countries have recently joined forces to put pressure on the United States to pay off its arrears immediately. China has also made it clear that it will complete the payment of relevant funds by the end of this month and support the work of the United Nations with practical actions.
In the end, the United Nations is not the “United Nations of the United States”, but the common international organization of 193 countries around the world. Contributions are not “protective fees” and can not be an instrument of hegemony. If the United States really cares about the fate of the United Nations, it should put down the debt settlement; and those countries that follow the United States, should also see who is the “guilty” of truly disrupting the international order.