Xi's UN speech shows 'clearly focused vision,' says renowned expert

WASHINGTON -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has presented to the world his country's "clearly focused vision" of international relations, said a renowned US expert on China.

The vision, laid out in his video speech on Monday at a high-level meeting to commemorate the United Nations' 75th anniversary, features "three overarching principles," Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, told Xinhua via email.

The first is that "multilateralism, epitomized by the UN, is the only way that the contemporary world can work well," and the second is that "big countries ... should advocate and uphold international rule of law and honor their commitments," he noted.

The third, he added, is that "the world should reject unilateralism, where one country exercises dominance."

Kuhn noted that Xi also highlighted China's intention not to seek hegemony and control, which "indirectly addressed the recent and increasingly public charge, especially in the West, that China has growing imperial ambitions."

Speaking of Xi's message in the speech that no country should be "allowed to do whatever it likes and be the hegemon, bully or boss of the world," Kuhn said that "by using the evocative, half-humorous phrase, 'boss of the world', powerful in its simplicity ... President Xi delivers the message with a smile not a frown."

Kuhn said that Xi's "most prescriptive recommendations" include increasing the representation and voice of developing countries, a position that many countries "would no doubt support," and giving priority to addressing non-traditional security challenges such as public health.

"President Xi stressed that 'we must act, not just talk,' a way of thinking that has characterized his style of governance throughout his long career in government," Kuhn said. "I myself remember Xi telling me just that in 2006 when he was Zhejiang Party Secretary and we met in Hangzhou."