NEW YORK (Reuters) – As China and the United States clashed at the United Nations this week over the Kovid-19 and the climate, one of the world’s smallest states requested detention.
“Micronesia calls on our American and Chinese friends to strengthen their cooperation and friendship with each other … to achieve what is best for our global community,” David Panulo, president of Federated States Mic f Micronesia, told the UN General Assembly in a video address.
Micronesia, with a population of approximately 113,000 – and its Pacific Island neighbors have long been embroiled in a diplomatic tug-of-war between the world’s largest economic powers, with China in one area due to U.S. influence Believed. .
During Friday’s address to a gathering of world leaders – Panuelo acknowledged that competition has been beneficial for some in the Pacific.
But he warned that the efforts “also have the potential to sever long-standing ties in our Pacific community, and could counter our collective desire for regional unity, security and stability.”
The US-Chinese showdown is now taking place among 193 members of the United Nations, where traditional U.S. In the challenge to leadership, Beijing has pushed for more multilateral influence. Tensions between the two superpowers over the deadly coronavirus epidemic have reached a boiling point on the world body.
Micronesia argued during the annual – yet virtual – gathering of world leaders at the United Nations this week, as most countries called for unity to confront COVID-19, while the U.S. And other references to Chinese friction were generally transverse.
Richard Gowan, director of the international crisis group UN, said most leaders wanted to be caught up in the tension.
“Many members of the UN think that the U.S. Is destructive and China is power hungry. They don’t look very attractive either, ”he said. “Like ambitious Europeans (French President Emanuel) Macron sees an opportunity to fill the leadership gap, so he is ready to challenge Beijing and Washington.”
Alive
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that China be held accountable for being a “loose” Covid-19 on the world, then addressed the General Assembly on Tuesday to accuse Beijing of being a “liar” and to provoke conflict by knocking out UN platforms.
“The world we have today cannot come to terms with the general animosity between China and the United States, regardless of the global weight of these two great powers, regardless of the history that unites us,” Macron said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned that the world was moving in a dangerous direction and that “the future cannot be afforded, where the two largest economies have divided the world into one great fracture – each with its own trade and financial rules and the Internet and Has artificial intelligence capability. ”
In the Pacific, China has built strong economic ties with small island nations, and kept the countries away from long-term ties with Taiwan, winning over Kiribati and Solomon Islands in the past year.
China considers Taiwan its territory and has no right to state relations with the state. Of Taiwan’s remaining 15 diplomatic allies, four are in the Pacific – Palau, Nauru, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. The four states spoke in support of Taiwan during their leaders’ speeches at the United Nations.
Despite being largely small, the Pacific nations strategically control the vast bottom of the water, forming a border between the Americas and Asia. As the oceans warm and sea levels rise, it is also at the forefront of the global climate crisis.
“It is my hope … that the United States and the United States and the People’s Republic of China jointly champion the global causes of global unity and cooperation, from climate change to COVID-19, for global unity and cooperation.”
Reported by Michelle Nichols; Edited by Mary Milliken and Sandra Mailer
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