The BBC reported (December 31) that China is set to overtake Japan as the United Nations' second biggest funding country for the next three years and the development is fuelling nationalistic opinions in the media of both countries. China's contribution to the UN regular budget will rise from 7.92 to 12.01 per cent. On the other hand, Japan's share will decrease from 9.68 per cent to 8.56 per cent for the 2019-2021 period. The US remains the biggest contributor with a 22 per cent share. Chinese media have hailed the new status as a moment of pride for the nation, while Japanese media lament the mounting difficulty for the country to fulfil its long-awaited dream of becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council. An editorial in the English-language China Daily newspaper said (December 26) "Chinese people can take pride in the fact that the country has overtaken Japan to be the second-largest contributor to the UN regular budget. How much a country pays to the regular budget of the United Nations is a benchmark on how powerful the country is, at least financially." State-owned CGTN news channel had echoed the same view on 24 December, saying: "Since the budget is often used for peacekeeping operations and labour costs in the field, member states with greater contributions tend to have a greater voice in negotiations and personnel deployment." A special report by the official news agency, Xinhua vowed that the country would continue to stand up for multilateralism at the UN. "China, as rotating chairman of the UN Security Council, has worked to contribute to improving the work of the council, voiced support around the world for multilateralism, and given a stronger voice to boost the need of the UN." But a China Daily editorial also acknowledged that Beijing lacks respect within the UN despite the rising budget contribution: "The reality is that the rights and international standing China enjoys are still disproportional to what it does for the UN and its contribution to the development of the world economy." Citing analysts, an article in the China Daily on 27 December by Qiao Xinsheng from the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said that greater funding to international institutions could "seriously compromise" the interests of the Chinese people.
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