UN system must be bolstered, not bulldozed and replaced: China Daily editorial

The heartfelt gratitude UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed to President Xi Jinping during their video conference on Wednesday — one day after the United Nations General Assembly in which US President Donald Trump lashed out at China and poured scorn on the UN — for China’s constant upholding of multilateralism and the UN shows how much common sense is being challenged by the current US administration.

Five years back, who imagined the world leaders would have to spend their valuable summit time reiterating their endorsement of the UN and the multilateralism that it embodies, rather than directly focusing on the pressing need for cooperation to tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The high regards the UN chief paid to the series of proposals and measures raised by Xi in the UN General Assembly, including more funds and technology assistance for pandemic control, food security and climate change, and the strong support Guterres gave to China’s efforts to advance the construction of the Green Silk Road and deepen cooperation with Africa and developing countries represent the world body’s views on the groundless charges the US administration has directed at China in all of these fields.

No matter how presumptuous the US leader was in calling for the UN to hold China accountable for its alleged sins, it is clear his blame game is being met with cold shoulders in the international community.

If the US leader had any self-awareness of his administration’s isolation on the charges he leveled against China and the UN, he would have refrained from using the UN podium as his soapbox. Especially as a UN resolution on greater pandemic control cooperation was passed earlier this month by a vote of 169 to 2, with the US and Israel the only two objectors.

As Xi said, there is only one system, namely the UN-centered international system, and only one set of rules, the basic norms of international relations based on the UN Charter, and the unilateralism of the US and its seeking of hegemony are unpopular and are being rejected by the rest of the international community.

Rather than joining the US in trying to tear that system down, Xi called on all parties to think about how to improve it so it can address the pressing problems the world faces, which in one way or another, he said, are all related to peace and development.

The logic behind the US’ bid to bulldoze the international system is that it no longer serves to buttress the US’ hegemony in the face of China’s rise.

That being said, for the rest of the world the situation is by no means a choice between China and the US, but a choice between the global democracy advocated by China and unilateral despotism pursued by the US.

One cannot step into the same river twice. That applies both to the US and the rest of the world.