Just Shut Up and Pay Up

Look at this Associated Press story about anti-Japanese demonstrations in China. When I first noticed the headline yesterday, I passed it up as just more Asian-Asian hatred that was being hyped by the politically correct community here in the US.

The guys over at Powerline pointed out that I was wrong...

"SHANGHAI, China - Chanting "Japanese pigs get out," protesters threw stones and broke windows at Japan's consulate and Japanese restaurants in China as some 20,000 people defied government warnings to protest Tokyo's wartime history and its bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat.

Peaceful protests were reported in two other cities. Beijing remained calm. Police stood guard on Tiananmen Square to block a planned demonstration in the heart of the capital, a day ahead of a visit by Japan's foreign minister. Paramilitary police surrounded the Japanese Embassy, where protesters smashed windows last weekend.

Japan's Embassy said two Japanese were injured in Shanghai after being surrounded by a group of Chinese, Kyodo News agency reported. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

The third weekend of anti-Japanese protests erupted despite government demands for calm. The nation's communist leaders apparently worry that the protests might do more damage to relations with Tokyo, which are at their lowest point in decades, or encourage others to take to the street to protest corruption or demand political reforms."

Although there are other issues, the main reason for the protests seems to be the Japanese requesting admission as a permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council.

As I wrote in late December in Nearly 1.5 billion down a rat hole,

"The title of this post tells you everything you need to know about the United Nations. Their 2004 operating budget is actually $1.483 billion, of which the US’s “assessment” was $363 million and Japan’s “assessment” was $280 million. Together, the US and Japan pay 43.4% of the total operating budget (24.5% and 18.9% respectively.) The other 189 member nations pay the remaining 56.4% of the budget, with Germany (8.4%), the UK (5.9%), and France (5.9%) making up the balance of the top five “assessment” payers.

Well isn’t that special? But what about Russia and China, two of our number one detractors in all issues Iraqi as permanent members of the UNSecurity Council (excuse the pun?) China, home of 1.3 billion people, pays just $29 million (2%) annually. I couldn’t find Russia’s numbers, but they are less than the number fifteen “assessment” payer Switzerland’s 17 million (1.1%.)"

So China pays ten percent of the amount that Japan pays to the UN in assessments, but China would deny Japan, a major, balanced player on the world stage since the US kicked a lot of sense into them in the 1940's, a seat at the table on the only UN committee that really means anything.

As my title says, China's attitude must be "Just Shut Up and Pay UP."