China is against a proposal that deviates from the principle of
capacity to pay UN expenses and is ready to make an even greater
contribution to the body on the basis of this principle, said Liu
Zhenmin, Chinese deputy permanent representative to the United
Nations, on Monday.
Liu made the remarks on Monday as the Administrative and
Budgetary Committee (the 5th Committee) of the 61st session of the
UN General Assembly started to consider the scale of assessment for
the apportionment of UN expenses.
He said that capacity to pay had been the cornerstone of the
scale methodology ever since the inception of the UN.
It is a principle that reflects the general consensus by the
broad membership and has been reaffirmed by relevant General
Assembly resolutions many times, he added.
"This principle therefore brooks no change or distortion. China
is against any proposal that deviates from this principle, be it
the concept of 'responsibility to pay' or the setting up of a
minimum assessment rate for permanent members of the Security
Council, as advanced by a certain state," the Chinese envoy
said.
He said that China, as a member of the UN family and a permanent
member of the Security Council, fully understood its responsibility
toward the Organization and toward peace and security of the
world.
The Chinese government stands ready to make an even greater
contribution to the UN on the basis of capacity to pay, as its
domestic economy continues to grow, he added.
In their statements, South Africa, on behalf of the Group of 77,
and China, Pakistan, India and Egypt, along with Finland, on behalf
of the European Union and some other countries, all supported the
principle of capacity to pay in adopting the scale of assessment
for the period 2007-2009.
Many developing countries also voiced their opposition to any
proposals advocating a large-scale increase of their
assessment.
(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2006)
