Global Policy Forum

By Hamza Hendawi

Japan has warned Congress that U.S. legislation seeking to withhold United Nations dues could lead Japanese lawmakers to take similar action, possibly resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to the world body, a Japanese diplomat said Friday. Deputy Ambassador Toshiro Ozawa said he told Rep. Henry Hyde in a meeting early this month of the possible "unintended consequences" surrounding a bill the Illinois Republican sponsored as a way to force the United Nations to enact a series of reforms the House of Representatives adopted in June.

"When the U.S. Congress acts, it may impact the thinking of legislators in Japan on this issue because we do know that there is a buildup of frustration on the Japanese side vis-a-vis the United Nations," Ozawa told The Associated Press in an interview. Japan pays 19.5 percent of the annual U.N. budget of about $2 billion, second only to the United States, which pays about 22 percent. Ozawa's remarks come as Japan shows increasing signs of displeasure with the U.N. in the weeks since failing to get a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. It had allied with three other nations -- Brazil, Germany and India -- in a quest for permanent seats, but they still lack the support they need in the 191-nation General Assembly. Since the so-called Group of Four put their bid on hold in August, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government has claimed it is under growing pressure to scale back its dues to the United Nations because people at home no longer believe the country is getting its money's worth.

Dues are determined by a complex formula that is reconsidered every three years in the U.N. budget committee, and Japan could seek to lower its assessment as the United States did in 2000. Then, the United States succeeded in lowering its contribution from 25 percent to 22 percent. Ozawa said Japan nonetheless wants to work within the U.N. system and rejected the strategy of withholding dues outright. "As a country we don't like to go into a threatening mode," Ozawa said. Yet his government has no control over its legislature, putting it in a similar position to the Bush administration. The White House has said as a matter of policy that it opposes withholding dues to the United Nations because doing so could sour relations with other nations and work counter to American interests.

The Bush administration has supported an alternative to Hyde's bill that would give the secretary of state discretion over whether to pay the dues. The earliest such a bill could be enacted would be mid-2006. There has been no similar move in the Japanese legislature, Ozawa said. U.N. officials oppose withholding as something that could only delay U.N. reform and alienate other member states. "We've always felt that withholding dues was not a constructive approach," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Ozawa also said that Japan was reconsidering its approach to reform of the Security Council. While Japan, Brazil, Germany and India remain allied on their proposal for Security Council reform, Tokyo is considering whether to change strategy. The 35-page document adopted by world leaders at a summit two weeks ago asks the General Assembly to report by the end of the year on progress to reform the Security Council.

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