Letters | A truly democratic UN would revamp the Security Council
Readers discuss the membership of the Security Council, and what Hong Kong’s leaders can learn from the US politics
The Security Council, the most powerful body in the United Nations system, is responsible for ensuring international peace and security, admitting new members to the General Assembly and approving changes to the UN Charter. It comprises five permanent members and 10 elected members with a tenure of two years.
Each permanent member has the power to veto any resolution that goes through the Security Council. Originally, the permanent members were the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France and the Republic of China – represented by the government in Taiwan. In 1971, the Republic of China was replaced by the People’s Republic of China, and in 1991, the Soviet Union was replaced by the Russian Federation.
Since the UN system is expected to follow and operate under democratic principles, it is interesting to critically examine how democracy is reflected among the Security Council’s permanent members.
The US, UK and France which are run under democratic principles together represent just under 6 per cent of the world population, whereas, China and the Russian Federation together represent slightly over 19 per cent. Most alarming, the world’s largest democracy, also the world’s most populous country with 17.8 per cent of the global population, does not have a permanent seat on the council.
The selection of permanent members is a legacy of World War II, whereby the victors controlled the administration of the UN system. As a result, Europe is over-represented, Asia is under-represented and Africa and South America are unrepresented.