UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday tried to smooth over his criticism of the US after the White House objected to his description of the country as a “deadbeat” because of its late UN payments.
“My point was simply that the United Nations needs the fullest support of its members, and never more so than in these very demanding times,” Ban told reporters at UN headquarters.
Ban used the word “deadbeat” on Wednesday during a private meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol, one day after he met with US President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Ban’s “word choice was unfortunate,” given that the US is the world body’s largest contributor.
The US pays 22 percent of the organization’s nearly US$5 billion operating budget, but is perennially late paying its dues in part because of its budget calendar, but also over political issues.
Asked on Thursday whether Ban should retract his comment, Gibbs said some recognition by Ban of the US role would be appropriate.
“I think given the contribution that the American taxpayer makes, I do think it would be appropriate to acknowledge that role,” Gibbs told reporters at his daily briefing.
Ban had gone to the White House at Obama’s invitation on Tuesday, then made the rounds on Wednesday in Washington seeking to improve relations between the UN and its single biggest financial backer.
On Thursday, the UN chief called his choice of words a “misunderstanding.”
“I noted how generous the United States has been in supporting the UN, both in terms of assessed and voluntary contributions. At the same time, I noted that the United States is also the largest debtor, owing more than US$1 billion in arrears, soon to reach US$1.6 billion,” he said.
The US is behind on its payments partly because its budget runs on a different calendar than the UN’s, but also because Congress and previous US administrations have withheld funding to try to push through UN reforms or because of other ideological disputes.
Obama has pledged to change that.
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the senior Republican on the House Foreign Relations Committee, said she took “great umbrage” at Ban’s use of the word “deadbeat” to characterize the US.
During a brief interview in a House office building hallway, Ban acknowledged with a laugh that he had used that term. He said he did it to draw attention to the fact that the UN needs the money.
On Wednesday night, after The Associated Press reported Ban’s remarks to House leaders, the UN chief’s staff issued a similar statement to “clarify” what he said. It also said that Ban “enjoys an excellent working relationship with the United States and appreciates the many ways that it supports the United Nations.”
Ban drew muted support from his meetings in Congress, where members privately described him as dedicated, thoughtful and serious but generating little excitement. Some of the House and Senate leaders who met with Ban agreed with his assessment of the US’ late payments.
“Clearly they have an interest in the United States meeting its responsibility. In terms of peacekeeping, we’re about US$670 million behind, and I think the argument is well-stated,” said Democratic Representative Bill Delahunt, who also sits on the House Foreign Relations Committee and chairs its subcommittee with oversight of the UN.
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
UNDAUNTED: Panama would not renew an agreement to participate in Beijing’s Belt and Road project, its president said, proposing technical-level talks with the US US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. On his first trip overseas as the top US diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal, accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, Rubio was said to have had a firmer message in private, telling Panama that US President Donald Trump
CHEER ON: Students were greeted by citizens who honked their car horns or offered them food and drinks, while taxi drivers said they would give marchers a lift home Hundreds of students protesting graft they blame for 15 deaths in a building collapse on Friday marched through Serbia to the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to block three Danube River bridges this weekend. They received a hero’s welcome from fellow students and thousands of local residents in Novi Said after arriving on foot in their two-day, 80km journey from Belgrade. A small red carpet was placed on one of the bridges across the Danube that the students crossed as they entered the city. The bridge blockade planned for yesterday is to mark three months since a huge concrete construction