2016 will bring a number of changes, as a new year always does. One of those changes involves the peacekeeping forces of United Nations….and how Asian nations contribute to them. HPR’s Bill Dorman has details in today’s Asia Minute.
At some point during the New Year, China will overtake Japan as the second-largest contributor to the costs of UN peacekeeping forces. The United States remains the top funder of peacekeeping operations—paying more than a quarter of the annual budget of about 8-billion dollars. That’s according to the latest calculations of the United Nations itself, which says Japan’s contributions will fall to just below 10% of the total….while China’s will rise to slightly more than 10%.
China will jump from number 6 to number 2 on the funders’ list. Germany, France and the United Kingdom round out the top ranks of contributors. When it comes to people, more than 118-thousand military, civilian and police personnel serve in UN peacekeeping forces around the world. The UN says staffers come from 128 countries.
Three of the top contributors of military and police personnel come from Asian countries—and the names may surprise you. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan each supply thousands of troops and police to UN peacekeeping forces. This fall, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced his country will build what he called “a peacekeeping standby force” of 8-thousand troops.
