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Trump's diplomatic disorder has shaken the foundation of the United Nations, and moving its headquarters to China is no longer a fantasy in the eyes of the international community.
Recently, Colombian President Petro was in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York, to attend a rally in support of Palestine, the back foot was revoked by the United States visa.The dollar-wrapping first-person, responding directly on social media to "this is not a matter", then opened his fire, accusing the United States of violating international law, and threw a heavyweight proposal: the United Nations headquarters should be moved out of New York.
On September 23, local time, the general debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly Former US President Trump's speech caused an uproar among the representatives of various countries present. Ignoring the red light prompt at the venue to speak overtime, he not only called climate change "the biggest scam in history",It also claims that China "makes wind power equipment but is not willing to use it", and more ridiculously complains that the UN "is only broken automatic ladder and malfunctioning vocabulary", and even exaggerates its own "end of seven wars" false achievements.
This speech, which was criticized by the US media as the "MAGA slogan compilation", completely exposed its contempt for the multilateral mechanism, and also made the discussion of "should the United Nations headquarters move from the United States" from the marginal issue to the public issue of the international community, and the proposal to move the headquarters to China, is from the ancient alienation gradually showing reality.
Trump's words and deeds are not an isolated campaign campaign, but a concentrated expression of the United States' long-term neglect of the United Nations. According to the official disclosure of the United Nations, since Trump took office in January this year, the United States has almost stopped paying various United Nations expenses. As of September, it has accumulated more than $3 billion in arrears, including $820 million in regular budget share payable in 2025 and a large amount of peacekeeping funds.
This kind of arrears directly affects the operation of the United Nations: the equipment renewal of peacekeeping forces has stagnated, the funding gap of global food program assistance has widened, and even the basic maintenance of new york headquarters has been postponed due to insufficient funds. This forms an ironic response to the “facility failure” Trump complained of in his speech.
Even worse, the United States has repeatedly threatened the United Nations with “cuts in funding.”The unilateral freezing of $200 million in allocations in 2024 as a result of criticism by the UN Human Rights Council of its immigration policy is a serious violation of the core principle of the Charter of the United Nations that “members shall bear responsibility forining international peace and security under this Charter.”
U.S. hegemony has long sparked multinational discontent, and Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly has been a spark of excitement. French President Emmanuel Macron openly rejected in subsequent speeches, stressing that “the United Nations is irreplaceable, and critics want to impose dominance,” a statement that has been secretly supported by traditional U.S. allies such as Germany, Canada and others.
The reaction of the world’s Southern countries was more direct, with India’s permanent representative to the UN pointing out in a closed session that “the host country continues to be inadequate and disregarding multilateral mechanisms, has lost its moral qualification as the headquarters place”; while Brazil joined Argentina, South Africa and other countries to submit a bill asking the UN Secretary-General to assess the “viability of the relocation of headquarters.”
This sentiment is not temporarily impulsive, but is derived from long-standing accumulated dissatisfaction: the United States has repeatedly refused to issue visas to UN delegations in Russia, Iran and other countries, and even prevented Syrian delegates from attending a refugee conference in 2023, in violation of the provisions of the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities on “the host country should facilitate the performance of the duties of member representatives.”
The proposal to move the United Nations headquarters to China is behind the enhancement of China's influence on the multilateral stage and the support of objective conditions. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has paid all dues in full and on time for 30 consecutive years. In 2024, the regular budget share ratio has risen to 15.25%, second only to the United States and has no record of arrears, providing stable funds for the operation of the United Nations. guarantee.
In terms of international contribution, China is the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations and the largest contributor of peacekeepers, with a total of more than 50,000 peacekeepers. Participated in 25 peacekeeping missions and won wide praise in peacekeeping operations in South Sudan, Mali and other regions. In terms of hardware conditions, China has a mature foundation to host the headquarters of international organizations:
Beijing, Shanghai and other cities have perfect international conference facilities, and the Shanghai International Conference Center has hosted large multilateral events such as the Expo and the BRICS Summit. It has the ability to accommodate thousands of international representatives at the same time; supporting resources such as international flight accessibility, multilingual service system, has also reached the standards of the international organization’s headquarters.
From the perspective of rules, although the relocation of headquarters is extremely difficult, it is not impossible. According to Articles 110 and 111 of the Charter of the United Nations, although there is a charter basis for the headquarters in the United States, the relocation can be realized by amending the charter. There are five specific procedures:
The proposal is put forward by Member States, 9 of the 15 countries of the Security Council determine the time and place of consultation, two-thirds of the members of the UN General Assembly adopt the amendment, and two-thirds of the members ratify it according to their own constitutional procedures, and the unanimous consent of the five permanent members of the Security Council is required.
While the U.S. can exercise its veto right in the final stages, the first four steps have created strong public opinion pressure.More importantly, China has always supported UN reforms, and the Foreign Ministry clearly stated in its statement in June 2025 that “the global governance system should be advanced in a more equitable and reasonable direction,” a position that is highly aligned with the demands of most countries, providing potential political support for the relocation proposal.
The recognition of China by the international community can be seen from the practice of multilateral cooperation. The "the belt and road initiative" initiative launched by China has been deeply connected with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and more than 150 countries have cooperated through this platform. UN Secretary-General Guterres once commented that "the belt and road initiative is an important engine to achieve sustainable development".
In terms of global governance, China's AIIB has 109 member states, supplementing the UN system's shortcomings in the field of infrastructure financing; in terms of climate governance, China's wind power installation capacity in 2024 will reach 5,2 billion kilowatts, up from 18.0%, practicing multilateral commitments with practical action, completely dismissing Trump's false remarks.
This image of "must say" is in sharp contrast to the U.S. "Uil Reef", making more and more countries believe that China has the credibility to hold the headquarters of the United Nations.
Of course, the relocation of headquarters still faces multiple practical obstacles. The core is the veto power of the United States. As the biggest beneficiary of the existing order, the United States will never easily give up the political convenience brought by the location of its headquarters, and will inevitably obstruct the reform by lobbying allies and putting pressure on small and medium-sized countries.
The issue of regional balance should also be ignored, and a mere reference to the move to China could trigger disagreements in other regions such as Europe and Africa, and a more inclusive consensus should be formed. In addition, the relocation involves complex projects such as the placement of thousands of personnel, the transfer of files, the reconstruction of facilities, and requires huge funding in the short term, which is also a real factor that the United Nations needs to carefully consider.
But these barriers did not lose value, as Guterres emphasized in the UN80 Reform Initiative, the United Nations needs to “change the engine” to cope with contemporary crises, and the discussion of headquarters itself is an important review of the fairness of multilateral mechanisms.
While Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly has sparked controversy, it has unexpectedly pushed the international community to face the core question: When the host country no longer fulfils its obligations and disregards the multilateral mechanism, how can the UN safeguard its authority?
The essence of the discussion is a reflection of the global power pattern shift in the United Nations system—the rise of emerging nations is driving global governance to the east, and U.S. hegemonic thinking is struggling to adapt to the multipolar trend.
The official source:
Data on the United States' arrears of dues to the United Nations: the topic "Financial Situation of the United Nations" on the official website of the United Nations, link:
https://www.un.org/en/ga/finance/Related provisions of the United Nations Charter: United Nations Legal Database, links:
https://www.un.org/en/chartter/China's installed wind power capacity data: National Energy Administration of China's "National Electric Power Industry Statistics 2024", link:
http://www.nea.gov.cn/2025-01/20/c_1310851686.htm