美國向聯合國支付7.25億美元，緩解與這個世界組織的欠款爭議

安東尼・斯洛德科夫斯基（Antoni Slodkowski）報導By Antoni Slodkowski

聯合國9月16日（路透社）——聯合國週三表示，川普政府已向聯合國支付7.25億美元，這使華府龐大的欠款減少，並確保美國在下週於紐約召開的聯合國大會中保有投票權。UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Trump administration paid $725 million to the United Nations, the organization said on Wednesday, reducing Washington's large debt and ensuring it keeps its vote at the U.N. General Assembly convening in New York next week.

川普曾批評這個全球性組織未能充分發揮潛力，並削減許多聯合國機構的經費。上月被問及這筆計畫中的付款時，一名美國官員表示，任何付款都將取決於聯合國是否持續改革。Trump has criticized the global body ‌for not living up to its potential and slashed funding to many U.N. agencies. When asked about the planned payment last month, a U.S. official said any payments will ‌be contingent on continued reforms of the U.N.

聯合國發言人法爾漢・哈克（Farhan Haq）表示：「我們昨天收到美國支付給聯合國經常預算的7.25億美元，週五也收到美國支付給維和行動的1.02億美元。」"We received $725 million yesterday from the United States for the U.N. regular budget, and we also received $102 million from the U.S. for peacekeeping on Friday," said U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq.

他說：「美國仍積欠經常預算13.12億美元。」他並補充，「有了這些付款，美國已不再面臨2027年落入第19條規定情況的風險。」"The U.S. still owes $1.312 billion to the regular budget," he said, adding that, "with these payments, the U.S. is no longer in jeopardy of falling under Article 19 for 2027."

根據《聯合國憲章》第19條，如果會員國積欠的會費超過兩年的應繳年費，該國將失去在大會中的投票權，不過可能獲得寬限期。Under Article 19 of the U.N. Charter, a member state loses its voting rights in the General Assembly if its arrears exceed two years in annual fees, although grace ⁠periods are possible.

川普政府已對美國聯邦政府進行前所未有的精簡，稱其過於臃腫，並大幅縮減國內外補助。川普政府表示，這項行動是為了把資金投入符合美國納稅人利益的事務。The Trump administration has ⁠carried ⁠out an unprecedented shrinking of its federal government, ⁠saying it was bloated and has significantly cut back on domestic and foreign grants in an effort that it says was to put money into causes that aligned with U.S. taxpayer interests.

美國是聯合國預算的最大出資國，但在川普政府之下，美國對經常預算與維和預算的強制性款項一直延後支付，並大幅削減對擁有自身預算的聯合國機構之自願性資金。The U.S. is the biggest contributor to the U.N. budget, but under the Trump administration it has slow-walked mandatory payments to regular and peacekeeping budgets, and has slashed voluntary funding to U.N. agencies with their own budgets.

根據聯合國網站，第二大出資國中國也於9月1日支付了6.414億美元的經常預算分攤款。The second-biggest contributor, China, also paid $641.4 million on September 1 in its regular budget contributions, according to the U.N. website.

在財務危機之際，聯合國一直在推動一項稱為「UN80」的改革與成本削減計畫。The U.N. has been undergoing a reform and cost-cutting exercise known as "UN80" amid its financial crisis.

（安東尼・斯洛德科夫斯基報導；霍華德・戈勒（Howard Goller）編輯）(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Howard Goller)