Japan is strengthening its influence in the United Nations in order to counteract China. Currently, a record number of Japanese officials are working in various UN agencies around the world.
In 2021, Japan launched a five-year plan aimed at placing its experts in key positions within this massive international organization to address China’s increasing influence through the UN on other countries.
According to a report by Deutsche Welle on Thursday, December 18, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on December 9 that by the end of 2024, a total of 979 Japanese officials were serving in various UN agencies, marking the highest number since records began in 1990. This number is close to their target of reaching 1,000 staff within five years as announced in 2021.
The proportion of Japanese officials holding key positions in UN agencies is also increasing, with 94 Japanese officials serving as deputy directors or higher.
On the other hand, according to data from the United Nations website, the number of Chinese officials employed by the UN increased from 794 in 2009 to 1,647 by 2023.
In early 2021, Chinese officials held leadership positions in four UN agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, and the International Civil Aviation Organization. Among the 15 global organizations under the UN, nine of them have Chinese officials as their top deputies.
Some Japanese observers have pointed out that China is using substantial aid to win over developing countries, rapidly enhancing its military capabilities, and conducting diplomatic activities through multilateral organizations like the UN to influence other countries.
Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at the International Christian University in Tokyo, noted in an interview with Deutsche Welle that Beijing has been strategically placing its people in many critical UN committees.
“While UN staff are supposed to work for the UN, many are concerned that Chinese staff are busy promoting Chinese interests and obstructing actions against Beijing,” he said.
Nagy stated that Japan is now countering Beijing at the UN in the only feasible way available to them. Japan’s response is due to a clear sense of its declining leadership position in the UN and the need to strengthen its presence to make the UN more effective again.
The trend of increased Chinese control over important positions within the UN has raised concerns in Japan’s media for the past five years.
In 2020, the Nikkei Asian Review published a commentary urging Western countries and Japan to prevent China from dominating UN agencies. The article pointed out the difference in transparency and the democratic nature of Western governments compared to China’s opaque policy-making and implementation processes.
Japan is not alone in this concern. Western countries, including the United States, have recognized that China is using the UN to advance its geopolitical goals, undermining the UN’s neutrality.
Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley publicly stated that Beijing is obstructing reasonable and ethical measures using its position in the UN Security Council. She expressed concerns that China is quietly eroding the UN from top to bottom, while pursuing control over almost all UN agencies with malicious and often disastrous actions.
In 2021, a report by The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies urged the US State Department and Congress to propose reforms to each UN agency, to restore an international order led by the United States.