UN Peacekeeping troops from Morocco in the Democratic Republic of Congo: China said the US owed the United Nations more than two billion dollars just days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that there may be a shortage of funding for peacekeeping missions
China on Friday issued a statement calling on all UN member states to "actively fulfill their financial obligations to the United Nations," stressing that Washington owes the organization more than $2 billion.
"As of May 14, the 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 meeting held on Thursday.
Including arrears that stretch back several years, "the United States is the largest 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 percent of its annual running costs, a bill which adds up to around $3 billion; and 25 percent of its peacekeeping operations, which amount to some $6 billion a year.
Officially, Washington is meant to pay 27.89 percent of the peacekeeping budget, but a decision made by Congress and implemented by President Donald Trump in 2017 cut that payment to 25 percent, meaning Washington runs up an annual shortfall of $200 million.
The United States also has a fiscal year that runs from October to October, which can make it look like an even bigger debtor at certain times of the year.
The US mission to the UN dismissed the call, saying China is "eager to distract attention from its cover-up and mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis, and this is yet another example."
It continued: "The United States recently made a payment of $726 million toward its peacekeeping assessment, and per practice will pay the bulk of its assessment at the end of the calendar year."
It said the total peacekeeping arrears was $888 million, adding: "Roughly two-thirds of this amount is the result of payment at the rate of 25 percent from 2017 through the present."
The payment of contributions by member countries for peacekeeping operations has a direct impact on the reimbursements the UN pays to countries that contribute troops to the 15 or so missions around the world.
In a report on May 11, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "there may be significant delays towards the middle of the year, unless the cash position across missions improves significantly."
On Thursday, around 50 of the 193 member states, including China, paid their contributions in full, which Beijing -- the second largest contributor, far behind the United States -- noted in its statement.
China pays around 12 percent of the UN's running costs and around 15 percent of the peacekeeping budget.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s unresolved political drama - simmering on the sidelines since the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government as the nation focused on tackling COVID-19 - now appears to be back in the spotlight.
The upcoming one-day parliamentary session on Monday (May 18) will be the first sitting for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, the informal coalition which took the reins in March.
Meanwhile, it is rumoured that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) may expel both Dr Mahathir, its chairman, and his son, Mr Mukhriz Mahathir, its deputy president who led the PH state government in Kedah until this week.
The political heavyweights - Dr Mahathir, Mr Muhyiddin, Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) Mr Anwar Ibrahim and United Malays National Organisation's (UMNO) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - are facing different sets of challenges as people’s attention is once again trained on the power tussle.
Analysts told CNA that despite having performed credibly in the management of the pandemic, Mr Muhyiddin needs to prove that he commands a parliamentary majority to shake off the perception of helming a “backdoor government”.
For Dr Mahathir, he has lost his incumbency advantage, having caused the collapse of the PH administration through his resignation.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad (right), Anwar Ibrahim (centre) and Muhyiddin Yassin leave after a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 1, 2018. (File photo: Mohd RASFAN / AFP)
The current situation appears to be bleak for Mr Anwar, whose attempts to ascend to the prime ministership were repeatedly dashed. It also remains to be seen whether UMNO, which is used to calling the shots, can accept playing a less dominant role in the federal administration led by a Bersatu prime minister.
The only way to break the political deadlock is to have a proper general election, opined Mr Nur Jazlan Mohamed, an UMNO Member of Parliament (MP) and a former deputy minister.
“Right now, the parliament can’t even hold a proper debate on His Majesty’s speech this May 18, which is basically the government’s agenda for 2020, because of worries that it might not be approved by the parliament,” said the Johor UMNO deputy chairman.
The problem would be magnified later on when it comes to reading and approving the 2021 budget, as a government failure to pass it's budget effectively means a loss of confidence as well, he explained.
“A hard reset, a general election to properly obtain a mandate would be the best. At the moment though, only UMNO and BN (Barisan Nasional) feel this is the best method,” noted Mr Nur Jazlan.
MUHYIDDIN ADMINISTRATION NEEDS TO OVERCOME “BACKDOOR” IMPRESSION
While the Muhyiddin administration has performed credibly in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, it now has to overcome the impression of being a backdoor government, say those interviewed by CNA.
Dr Lee Kuok Tiung from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, said the RM250 billion (US$57.5 billion) stimulus packages had won the Prime Minister public support.
“So far, his administration is acceptable because none of the politicians involved in ongoing (court) cases have been appointed. It’s still too early to judge them, but the selection or appointment seems to reflect criteria on integrity and accountability.”
After being sworn in, Mr Muhyiddin had pledged to lead a clean Cabinet.
“In addition, although the more well-off benefit indirectly through mechanisms such as the six-month debt moratorium, the stimulus package also penetrates different segments of society and those who need subsidies including students,” Dr Lee added.
Mr Muhyiddin may have circumvented his opponents in the Monday parliamentary sitting, leaving them trying again during the next session in July, he noted.
However, Dr Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, a political science professor at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said that the prime minister needs to overcome the impression that he took power via a backdoor.
Mr Muhyiddin had in February led Bersatu out of PH and joined forces with the former ruling coalition to take power.
“From one point of view, it is a government that didn’t come into power by being voted in as a bloc,” Prof Ahmad Fauzi said, adding that legally, however, all Mr Muhyiddin needed was the majority of MPs in the Lower House.
“To overcome this legitimacy impression, Muhyiddin’s government should be doing its best in all avenues, the most important of which is to be accountable to the electorate via parliament,” he said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Cabinet members. (Photo: Facebook/Muhyiddin Yassin)
Prof Ahmad Fauzi said the Mr Muhyiddin-led government was compounding its legitimacy issues by limiting the coming parliament sitting to one day.
“We are living in modern times, and many democracies, the latest being the United Kingdom, have gone online … What’s the problem with holding an online parliamentary session and showing accountability that way?” he said.
To further strengthen his position, Mr Muhyiddin would have to reach out to MPs from the other side of the political aisle and induce them to join his camp, said political commentator Oh Ei Sun.
“Muhyiddin has certainly ensured that most of the MPs in his camp were somehow appointed to various positions in the government or GLCs (government-linked companies), thus consolidating his support base,” Dr Oh pointed out.
MAHATHIR NEEDS POLITICAL MOMENTUM TO ATTRACT LAWMAKERS
Although Mr Muhyiddin is Bersatu's president and holding the top post in Putrajaya, Dr Mahathir, the twice-former prime minister, also has his own supporters in the party.
However, it would be a long shot for him to topple Mr Muhyiddin, said analysts.
“Mahathir no longer enjoys the advantage of incumbency, even in persuading the MPs on his side to stay on with him - albeit with divided loyalty to Anwar - what more in calling MPs from the Perikatan side to join him,” said Dr Oh.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad attends a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 1, 2020, after Muhyiddin Yassin was appointed as Malaysia's next prime minister by the king. (Photo: AFP/MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
“What he needs to do is create a sort of irresistible political momentum, or ‘wind’ in local political parlance, that makes the MPs feel the political advantage is building up on his side, and it’s worthwhile to join him,” he explained.
Dr Oh added that this could be why Dr Mahathir had proposed the no-confidence motion.
This explicit move to bring down Mr Muhyiddin has in turn triggered defections in the Kedah state assembly, as a way of bringing down Mr Mukhriz, who is seen as Dr Mahathir’s proxy.
“Mahathir had always been coy about his real political position, dithering between his mild criticism of the Perikatan Nasional government, and his manifest detestation for Anwar. So both Muhyiddin and Azmin Ali harboured hopes of then winning Mahathir’s support for them.”
Kedah Chief Minister Mukhriz Mahathir. (File photo: Bernama)
“Now that he has been explicit in his intent to bring down the new government, the gloves are off and the two (Kedah) assemblymen were understandably instructed to defect to bring down Mukhriz and detract the political ‘wind’ from Mahathir’s camp,” Dr Oh observed.
Prof Ahmad Fauzi said Dr Mahathir also suffers from legitimacy issues if he wants to style himself as a pretender to the throne, “given that he himself was a major, if not the main cause, for the downfall of the Pakatan government (via his resignation).”
ANWAR’S PKR IN REBUILDING MODE
Right after the collapse of the PH government back in March, Mr Anwar, the president of PKR, had announced his disappointment in Dr Mahathir in an interview with CNBC.
In addition, PKR has since been going through a round of housekeeping and defections, involving those aligned with former party deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, now a senior minister in the PN Cabinet.
The defections were bound to happen, said party communications director Fahmi Fadzil. The sacking of Mr Azmin on Feb 24 was a culmination of a series of insubordination acts trending back to 2014, when a Selangor political crisis saw Mr Azmin named as the state’s chief minister, he added.
Politician Anwar Ibrahim reacts as he leaves his home in Kuala Lumpur on February 26, 2020. Malaysia's government has collapsed after the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, which followed a failed bid by rivals to form a new coalition aimed at stopping leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim from succeeding him. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
“I think for PKR, the situation is how do we rebuild after the worst spate of defections, sackings and suspensions that has happened?” said Mr Fahmi, who is also the Lembah Pantai MP.
On one hand, he explained, the party needs to restructure itself at the grassroots level, and also set the party to rights.“It’s an opportunity to ensure the transgressions of the ‘cartel’ are corrected, and no one repeats building such an unchecked power base in the party that it jeopardises the reform movement,” he said.
For now, Mr Anwar has essentially no choice but to wait, as the “wind” is not necessarily even with Dr Mahathir, what more him, Dr Oh opined.
“The party will survive, as it did even when Anwar was in jail and only had one MP. But it’s future in government again is uncertain.”
Meanwhile, Prof Ahmad Fauzi said it is quite disappointing for Anwar to keep putting his trust in Dr Mahathir despite the broken promises. The analyst was referring to a May 9 joint statement by the two opposition figures that PH was not giving up the fight.
Mr Anwar’s move to work with Dr Mahathir now, would have the effect of preventing further defections of elected PH representatives to the prime minister’s camp.
"However, this gives the image of impatience and desperation for Anwar. In turn, that image of impatience is a mark against Anwar and his style of politics ... (This) made him unpopular, thus costing him some long-time loyalists," said Prof Ahmad Fauzi.
CAN UMNO BEAR PLAYING SECOND FIDDLE?
UMNO has the largest number of MPs in the new PN government.
In the past weeks, the party has made several statements which some say have undermined Mr Muhyiddin’s political ground as prime minister.
Ahmad Zahid, UMNO's president, had issued a letter to Mr Muhyiddin pressing for more government posts. UMNO's deputy president Mohamad Hassan also declared that PN is just an understanding instead of a formal coalition.
Later, in what appeared to be a u-turn, Ahmad Zahid warned party members that UMNO was not in a dominant position, and should not make demands of the current government. On the same day, he declared en bloc support for Mr Muhyiddin should a no-confidence vote take place in parliament.
Malaysia's former deputy premier and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (C) in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 25, 2018 (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
Prof Ahmad Fauzi noted that UMNO’s role in any coalition has always been the “big brother”, the controlling factor, since the Alliance days pre-independence until Barisan Nasional.
“As it shows now, the loyalty of the UMNO ministers is more to the party, than the prime minister they nominally serve, such as when the health minister was caught on video mistakenly saying 500 countries, he was reporting to Ahmad Zahid, not Muhyiddin,” he said.
Prof Ahmad Fauzi was referring to an incident on social media, where Health Minister Adham Baba said he had spoken to 500 countries in a World Health Organisation (WHO) conference call about Malaysia's COVID-19 measures. He was said to have been reporting to Ahmad Zahid and not the prime minister.
Dr Adham later clarified that he had meant to say 500 participants, and that were about 50 participating countries in that conference call.
Playing second fiddle, Prof Ahmad Fauzi explained, is an abnormality that UMNO could not face for long, hence a factor for a potential implosion.
Concurring, Dr Oh said Ahmad Zahid would like to see UMNO firmly in the driver’s seat, and not as a fellow passenger with Mr Azmin as some sort of elevated conductor.
Currently, Ahmad Zahid, as party president, is an ordinary MP, which is at odds with the tradition in Malaysian politics that senior party figures are given senior Cabinet positions.
United Malays National Organization (UMNO) President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party President Hadi Awang hug during Ummah Unity Gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Sep 14, 2019. (Photo: REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng)
“Muhyiddin would have to doll out more political largesse to the UMNO crowd to solidify their support, or to at least firm up PAS' (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) support for him, as for example with the chief ministership of Kedah,” Mr Oh said.
UMNO's Mr Nur Jazlan admitted that UMNO could hardly return to its pre-2018 heights. “We won’t reach the same dominant level before GE14, but we will still remain the most influential."
For now, UMNO will throw its support behind Mr Muhyiddin until the next general election.
"The party will support Muhyiddin as long as he shows he can survive," he said.
WASHINGTON - That China-US relations are on the rocks was left in no doubt on Thursday (May 14) when President Donald Trump told Fox News that there were "many things we could do" to China.
BEIJING: A major city in north-east China has quarantined over 7,500 people after it discovered three new coronavirus cases in the past five days as the region sees a surge in infections.
China has largely brought the virus under control after months of lockdowns and curbs on travel, but fears of a second wave have risen as clusters have emerged in northeast provinces and in the central city of Wuhan.
Shenyang, a city of around 7.5 million, reported its first new local case in 89 days on Monday (May 11), and a further two new local cases on Thursday.
Its government confirmed Thursday that the new cases were linked to a cluster in the city of Shulan, nearly 500km away in neighbouring Jilin province.
Some 7,500 people who arrived from Jilin since Apr 22 and those who came in close contact to the three local cases in Shenyang were required to undergo 21-day quarantine and three nucleic acid tests.
The city has also postponed reopening schools - some of which had been scheduled to welcome back students on Friday.
Authorities in the pandemic ground zero of Wuhan have also ordered mass COVID-19 testing for all 11 million residents after a new cluster of cases emerged over the weekend.
President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that containment measures must be stepped up in Jilin, neighbouring Heilongjiang and Wuhan "to forestall resurgence of infections", reported Xinhua.
The cities of Jilin and Shulan, both in Jilin province, have been put under lockdown within the past week after an initial cluster that appeared in Shulan on Monday spilled over to Jilin.
Strict controls have been placed on transport, schools have been ordered to close and mass gatherings banned.
Jilin's vice mayor warned Wednesday that the situation was "extremely severe and complicated" and "there is major risk of further spread".
The Shulan cluster was linked to a local woman with no known overseas travel history or previous exposure to the virus, sparking concerns over its unknown origin.
BEIJING (AFP) - China on Friday (May 15) urged the United States to meet it halfway and strengthen cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic after President Donald Trump threatened to sever bilateral ties.
"To maintain the steady development of China-US relations is in the fundamental interests of the people in both countries, and is conducive to world peace and stability," said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a press briefing.
"At present, China and the US should continue to strengthen cooperation against the epidemic, defeat the epidemic as soon as possible, treat patients, and restore economy and production. But it requires the US to meet halfway with China."
The comments came after Trump further hardened his rhetoric towards China, threatening to cut ties with the rival superpower completely as relations have steadily deteriorated over the pandemic.
"There are many things we could do ... We could cut off the whole relationship," Trump said on Thursday in an interview with Fox Business News. "You'd save US$500 billion (S$711 billion) if you cut off the whole relationship."
Trump said that his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping is "very good" but added: "right now I just don't want to speak to him".
However, fulfilment of the deal looks increasingly tenuous in the face of the pandemic and a looming global economic downturn.
In the pact signed in January, China agreed to buy US$200 billion more in US goods over two years than it did in 2017 - before the trade war erupted and triggered tariffs on billions of dollars of two-way trade.
Tensions have ratcheted up between Washington and Beijing as they traded barbs over the origin of the pandemic that first appeared in late 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which Trump has dubbed the "Plague from China."
HONG KONG: A 21-year-old Hong Kong lifeguard, the first protester to plead guilty to the charge of rioting during last year's unrest, was sentenced to four years' jail on Friday (May 15) for a "direct attack on the rule of law".
Sin Ka-ho was among thousands who surrounded the Legislative Council on Jun 12 in a bid to stop legislators from giving a second reading to a since-withdrawn Bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.
A few dozen protesters, many wearing black and holding a banner reading "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times" gathered outside the court, chanting “there’s no riot, only tyranny".
As Sin was driven away in a van, some protesters knocked on its windows and shouted "Stay strong!"
The protest at the Legislative Council was the first of many last year that police cleared with tear gas and rubber bullets, angering moderate Hong Kong people in a pivotal moment for the anti-government movement.
Demonstrations turned more confrontational and broadened to demands for democracy in the city amid anger at Beijing's perceived meddling with its freedoms.
Sin admitted to pushing police barricades and hurling umbrellas and other objects at officers, but denied planning the assaults.
The defendant's actions were "a direct attack on the rule of law", District Court Justice Amanda Woodcock said in the sentencing, which is seen as potentially laying down a marker for the nearly 600 protesters who have been charged with rioting, risking up to 10 years in jail.
Neither Sin nor his lawyer commented on the sentence.
Sin has been the only one so far to plead guilty, in a symbolic blow for the protest movement, whose demands include amnesty for all those arrested and the government dropping its characterisation of the protests as "riots".
Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of many freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent judiciary. Communist Party rulers in Beijing deny interfering with those freedoms.
The protesters' main demands are universal suffrage and an independent inquiry into police's handling of the demonstrations.
Accusations of police brutality must not be used as "a weapon of political protest", the police watchdog said in a report on Friday, adding that the city appeared to be getting dragged into an "era of terrorism".
More than 8,300 protesters were arrested between June 2019 and mid-May this year. Over 1,600 have been prosecuted and 595 face rioting charges.
Sin's sentence was reduced from six to four years due to his clear record and guilty plea.
Demonstrations are likely to pick up in the summer after a relative lull this year due to social distancing measures taken to fight the coronavirus outbreak, which has largely been brought under control.
