China will never seek hegemony, says Xi Jinping at UN General Assembly
The Chinese president also said that ‘one country’s success does not have to mean another country’s failure’, in an apparent reference to the US.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday said that Beijing will never invade or bully others, or seek hegemony, reported state-run newspaper Global Times.
Xi made the statement hours after US President Joe Biden, in an indirect reference to Beijing, said that his country did not seek “a new Cold War”.
The Chinese president, who was addressing world leaders at the 76th session of United Nations General Assembly in New York, also criticised Biden, pointing to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US military troops.
“Recent developments in the global situation show once again that military intervention from the outside and so-called democratic transformation entail nothing but harm,” he said, reported AP.
The Chinese president also called for practicing true multilateralism.
“In the world, there is only one international system, i.e. the international system with the United Nations at its core,” he said. “There is only one international order, i.e. the international order underpinned by international law. There is only one set of rules, i.e. the basic norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.”
Xi urged world leaders to handle disputes among countries “through dialogue and cooperation” over “confrontation and exclusion”, reported PTI.
“One country’s success does not have to mean another country’s failure,” he said, in another apparent swipe at the US. “The world is big enough to accommodate common development and progress of all countries.”
He added: “We need to build a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, equity, justice, and win-win cooperation, and do the best we can to expand the convergence of our interests and achieve the biggest synergy possible.”
The president also said that China will firmly oppose any political manoeuvring in tracing the origins of Covid-19. China will continue to engage in the global science-based tracing of the origins of the coronavirus, he added.
China unveils climate change policy
Meanwhile, China unveiled its new policy to tackle climate change. Xi said his country will no longer fund coal-fired power plants abroad.
US Climate Envoy John Kerry said he was “absolutely delighted” by Xi Jinping’s announcement on climate change, reported Al Jazeera.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres too welcomed China’s resolution. “Accelerating the global phase out of coal is the single most important step to keep the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement within reach,” Guterres said in a statement.
Biden has promised to double the financial aid to poorer countries to help them adopt cleaner energy and deal with climate change. The US president said he would work with the US Congress to increase the aid to $11.4 billion (approximately Rs 84,000 crore) per year by 2024.
Do not boycott Taliban: Qatar
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, urged world leaders at the UN to not boycott the Taliban.
He stressed on “the necessity of continuing dialogue with Taliban because boycott only leads to polarisation and reactions, whereas dialogue could bring in positive results”.
The US and Turkey have also pledged to continue to cooperate on Afghanistan.
“We’re so grateful to Turkey for its very strong partnership in Afghanistan and the work that we continue to do together there,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Climate change, Covid fuelling collective anxiety: UNGA chief
UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid said that fragility, conflict, Covid-19 and climate change were the challenges confronting the world today, reported PTI.
He said that the coronavirus pandemic and climate change were keeping people awake at night and fuelling collective anxiety and worry that things were getting worse.
“There are moments in time that are turning points,” he said. “This is one such moment. We can choose a path of isolationism, of mutual destruction, of a slow retreat of the human experiment, or we can forge together a new path, a sustainable and resilient path that changes the future of our planet.”