China calls on US to pay its debts to the US
16 May, 2020
China on Friday (May 15) issued a statement contacting all UN member states to "actively fulfill their obligations to the United Nations," stressing that Washington owes the business a lot more than US$2 billion.
"By May 14, the full total unpaid assessments under the UN regular budget and peacekeeping budget amount to 1.63 billion and 2.14 billion US dollars respectively," the Chinese statement said, citing a report from the UN Secretary-General's office and a gathering held on Thursday.
Including arrears that stretch back many years, "the United States is the major debtor, owing 1.165 billion and 1.332 billion US dollars respectively", China added.
The US is the biggest contributor to the UN budget, paying 22 per cent of its total annual running costs, a bill which results in around US$3 billion; and 25 per cent of its peacekeeping operations, which total some US$6 billion a year.
Officially, Washington is intended to pay 27.89 % of the peacekeeping budget, but a decision made by Congress and implemented by President Donald Trump in 2017 cut that payment to 25 %, meaning Washington runs up an gross annual shortfall of US$200 million.
The United States also offers a fiscal year that runs from October to October, which will make it look like an even bigger debtor at times of the year.
The US mission to the UN dismissed the call, saying China is "wanting to distract attention from its cover-up and mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis, and this is just one more example".
It continued: "AMERICA recently made a payment of US$726 million toward its peacekeeping assessment, and per practice can pay the majority of its assessment towards the end of the calendar year."
It said the total peacekeeping arrears was US$888 million, adding: "Roughly two-thirds of the amount is the consequence of payment at the rate of 25 % from 2017 through the present."
The payment of contributions by member countries for peacekeeping procedures has a direct effect on the reimbursements the UN pays to countries that contribute troops to the 15 roughly missions all over the world.
In a report on May 11, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "there may be significant delays towards the center of the year, unless the money position across missions improves significantly".
On Thursday, around 50 of the 193 member states, including China, paid their contributions in full, which Beijing - the next major contributor, far behind america - noted in its statement.
China pays around 12 % of the UN's running costs and around 15 % of the peacekeeping budget.
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