Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday took a veiled swipe at US leadership in a speech marking Beijing’s 50th anniversary as a member of the UN, comments that come as Washington moves toward helping Taiwan play a bigger role in international forums.
“China has always pursued an independent foreign policy of peace, upheld justice, and resolutely opposed hegemonism and power politics,” Xi said, in comments that stopped short of naming the US.
The Chinese leader vowed that his nation would “stick to the road of peaceful development,” adding that nations should work together to address issues such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity and biosecurity.
Photo: Reuters
“Only by forming more inclusive global governance, more effective multilateral mechanisms and more active regional cooperation can we effectively deal with them,” Xi said.
The Chinese president also spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres via videoconference, the Global Times reported.
Guterres offered his congratulations on the anniversary and the two discussed expanding cooperation on issues such as dealing with climate change, the newspaper reported.
Beijing has stepped up military pressure on Taiwan this year and US President Joe Biden last week said that the US was committed to defending Taiwan from a Chinese attack, comments Beijing denounced.
Xi next month is expected to use a major meeting of the Chinese Communist Party to bolster his case for a third term in office. A key selling point for Xi is that he is standing up to the US on issues from efforts to determine the origins of COVID-19 to Taiwan.
That friction is likely to escalate after high-level diplomats from the US Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met on Friday last week via videoconference to discuss Taipei’s participation at the UN and other international forums.
“The discussion focused on supporting Taiwan’s ability to participate meaningfully at the UN and contribute its valuable expertise to address global challenges, including global public health, the environment and climate change, development assistance, technical standards and economic cooperation,” the state department said in a statement.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) yesterday at a regular news briefing in Beijing said that “Taiwan’s participation in international activities must be handled in accordance with the ‘one China’ principle.”
“Taiwan attempts to boost its influence in the world, but such attempts are doomed to fail,” Wang said, adding that the US should “avoid doing anything that would undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
State department official Rick Waters last week said that China has been misusing UN Resolution 2758 to stop Taiwan from playing a role in the organization. The Chinese embassy in the US hit back at the remarks, saying in a statement that they “disregard facts” and were “highly misleading.”
“This is a serious political provocation to China, and a malign distortion of international law and universally recognized norms governing international relations,” the statement said, adding that China had lodged a solemn representation with US diplomats.
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