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UNITED NATIONS: World leaders gathered, virtually, on Monday (September 21) to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, as the deadly coronavirus pandemic and tensions between the United States and China challenge the efficacy and solidarity of the world of 193 members. Body.
As COVID-19 began to spread around the world earlier this year, forcing millions of people into their homes and dealing a devastating economic blow, countries turned inward and diplomats say the The United Nations struggled to assert itself.
Long-standing tensions between the United States and China reached a boiling point over the pandemic, highlighting Beijing’s bid for greater multilateral influence in a challenge to Washington’s traditional leadership.
The coronavirus emerged in China late last year and Washington accuses Beijing of a lack of transparency that it says made the outbreak worse. China denies the US claims.
In an apparent coup against the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday: “No country has the right to dominate global affairs, control the destiny of others, or reserve development advantages to itself. Do whatever it takes. want and be the hegemon, the bully or the boss of the world. Unilateralism is a dead end. “
Xi’s comments were not on the video he recorded for the meeting. They were included in a longer statement that, according to the Chinese UN mission, was sent to the world body.
China has presented itself as the main cheerleader for multilateralism, as US President Donald Trump’s contempt for international cooperation led Washington to renounce the global accords on climate and Iran and leave the Council. of Human Rights of the UN and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Cherith Norman Chalet, told the General Assembly that the world body had in many ways proven to be a “successful experiment”, but “there are also reasons for concern.”
“The United Nations has resisted meaningful reform for too long, too often lacks transparency and is too vulnerable to the agenda of autocratic regimes and dictatorships,” he said.
The United States’ withdrawal from the WHO came after Trump accused the agency of being a puppet of China, a claim the WHO denied.
“THEY AND WE”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “growing discord” in the international community was sparked by the meddling of some countries in the internal affairs of other states and the imposition of unilateral sanctions, a veiled dig in Washington.
“The world is tired of dividing the dividing lines, dividing the states in them and in us. The world requires greater assistance and multilateral cooperation,” he said.
The pandemic has exposed the frailties of the world, said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “Today we have a surplus of multilateral challenges and a deficit of multilateral solutions,” he said.
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The Security Council took months to back a Guterres call for a global ceasefire, to allow countries to focus on fighting COVID-19, due to disputes between China and the United States.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the interests of individual member states have “too often” forced the United Nations to fall behind its ideals.
“Those who believe that they can get along better alone are wrong. Our well-being is something we share, our suffering as well. We are one world,” he told the General Assembly.
Several leaders called for reform of the United Nations and, in particular, of the 15-member Security Council, arguing that it was unfair that the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain were the only permanent powers with veto power.
“A council structure that leaves the fate of more than 7 billion people at the mercy of five countries is neither fair nor sustainable,” said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Monday’s special one-day event comes before the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, which begins Tuesday with no presidents or prime ministers physically present in New York. All statements have been prerecorded and will be broadcast in the General Assembly hall.
The United Nations was created when countries came together after World War II to prevent another such conflict. While there has been no World War III, the leaders adopted a statement on Monday recognizing “moments of disappointment.”
“All of this requires more action, not less,” the statement said.
