On Tuesday, Volkan Bozkir, President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), kicked off the year’s General Debate. The theme for this year’s event is “The future we want, the United Nations we need: Reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism.” The summit is being held virtually, with leaders delivering pre-recorded speeches. The new format means that the geopolitical theatre offered normally during the pivotal UN meeting is largely absent, with each country being represented by a single delegate, with little opportunity for rebuttal.
Bozkir reiterated the need for nations to unite in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and to make complete use of all available tools to combat the challenge, calling the Assembly “a key platform to provide political guidance.”
However, in his opening speech at the conference, United States President Donald Trump stirred controversy by attacking China and its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Trump, who is up for reelection in November, has led an administration that has pulled out of several multilateral agreements and has also criticized and begun plans to revoke funding from the World Health Organization. “We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world, China,” Trump said in his pre-recorded address.
“The Chinese government, and the World Health Organization — which is virtually controlled by China — falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Later, they falsely said people without symptoms would not spread the disease ... The United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions,” Trump said.
Speaking soon after Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned nations of the risk that a “clash of civilizations” poses to world peace. “We will continue to narrow differences and resolve disputes with others through dialogue and negotiation. We will not seek to develop only ourselves or engage in zero-sum game,” he said. In remarks that were released just ahead of his speech on Tuesday, Xi took a more open swipe at Washington, saying that no single country has the “right to dominate global affairs, control the destiny of others, or keep advantages in development all to itself.” Ironically, this is the same allegation that the US has levelled at China. The strain of ties between the two countries was made painfully obvious on Tuesday; however, Xi assured that Beijing was not interested in any kind of war with the US.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also made extremely contrasting statements to Trump, praising the UN and its ability to fulfil its mission of promoting sustainable development, protecting peace, and providing assistance to states in mitigating crises.
As expected, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used this opportunity to berate Washington as well, particularly in light of the latter’s decision to instate a snapback of international sanctions on Tehran despite such measures being rejected by its co-members in the UN Security Council. “Instead of being able to benefit from international cooperation, my nation is faced with the harshest sanctions in history, in obvious and fundamental violation of the UN Charter, international agreements, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231,” Rouhani said.
Further, he slammed the Trump administration for pulling out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, stating that it was hypocritical of the US to back away from the deal after more than a decade of negotiations while still claiming to support discussions. He also called Trump’s sanctions terrorizing, saying that “the answer to peace is not war. The reward of fighting extremism is not terror.” Rouhani concluded his speech by calling out the US for using Iran as a “bargaining tool” for US elections, saying that the next government, irrespective of ideology, will have to recognize Tehran’s resilience.
Even Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro spoke out against the US and its sanctions regime. Maduro, who UN investigators recently accused of crimes against humanity, used his address to denounce “the world of hegemony, the world of imperialism.” He insisted that “Venezuela supports a multipolar world, a renewed UN system, a system that knows how to enforce international law and protect the people of the world,” which was a dig against the US’ position against the WHO.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla joined Maduro’s criticism of the US, saying that international law and multilateralism have been “threatened by the largest global power” even as the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary. Parrilla said that the US’ “irresponsible behaviour” poses a great danger to global security and peace.
World Leaders Speak Out Against US at UN General Assembly
While US President Donald Trump chose to use his speech to berate China and the WHO, several countries spoke out against US hegemony in world politics and Washington’s defiance of multilateralism.
September 23, 2020
US President Donald Trump SOURCE: NBC NEWS