Two speeches, two visions

If any further reminder of the world being in disarray was needed, the speeches delivered by the presidents of two superpowers, the United States and China, provided it at the recently concluded 75th session of the UN General Assembly.

Held in the backdrop of the corona pandemic, the first virtual meeting of the General Assembly in its 75-year history was addressed by the world leaders through their pr-recorded speeches.

As if sensing what was to follow, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres set the stage by voicing the raging concerns of the international community in his opening address to the Assembly. In what could be described as a timely warning, he took a swipe at the failure of ‘nationalism and populism’ in containing the coronavirus pandemic.

His grim assessment of the world that “we are moving in a very dangerous situation” was justified by his thought-provoking comment when he said, “Our world cannot afford a future where two largest economies split the globe in a great fracture – each with its own trade and financial rules and internet and artificial intelligence capacities.”

Guterres’ fear of the world plunging into a ‘new cold war’ was thrown into sharp relief by a renewed war of words between presidents Trump and Xi Jinping at the General Assembly forum.

In line with his consistent position on Beijing that he has articulated at several global forums, President Trump used the opportunity to direct his ire at China, urging the United Nations that “We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague on the world – China.”

Mindful of unrelenting criticism of his pandemic leadership, Trump, according to analysts, employed method to his madness in an effort to deflect attention from the way his administration has handled the coronavirus thus far. With 200,000 people dead and over 6.9 million infected, the US continues to top the world in terms of fatalities. While trying to externalize the blame for the ravages caused by Covid-19, President Trump cleverly mixed it with a message of hope when he said, “We will defeat the virus, and we will end the pandemic.”

True to his pattern of lambasting the international bodies, Trump came down hard on the World Health Organization and the United Nations. “The Chinese government and the World Health Organization [WHO], which is virtually controlled by China, falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission,” Trump stated in remarks to the UNGA.

He was equally forceful in his criticism of the UN system and argued that the world body should focus on “the real problems of the world” such as “terrorism, the oppression of women, forced labor, drug trafficking, human and sex trafficking, religious persecution, and the ethnic cleansing of religious minorities”.

Trump also called China out for what he described as Beijing’s ‘rampant pollution’ and prided himself on ‘America’s exceptional environmental record’, declaring that he would not allow anyone to ‘punish’ the US.

President Trump’s speech was in line with his worldview – seeking to portray himself as a strong president, out to protect American interests by putting them at the core of his administration’s foreign policy. Principally aimed at his support constituency, the presidential address also reflected an agenda for the second term in case he retains White House following the November elections.

President Xi Jinping, on the other hand, forcefully advanced his core themes of multilateralism and global cooperation to fight the challenge of not just Covid-19 but also other issues facing humanity.

In what was a point-by-point response to Trump’s speech, President Xi spoke of the need to display solidarity to tackle the pandemic. “Facing the virus, we should enhance solidarity and get through this together,” he said. “We should follow the guidance of science, give full play to the leading role of the World Health Organization, and launch a joint international response to beat this pandemic. Any attempt of politicising the issue, or stigmatisation, must be rejected.”

Taking strong exception to unilateralism in an implicit reference to Trump’s ‘America first’ slogan, President Xi cautioned against the one-sided rewriting of rules of the game. “No country has the right to dominate global affairs, control the destiny of others, or keep advantages in development all to itself. Even less should one be allowed to do whatever it likes and be the hegemon, bully, or boss of the world. Unilateralism is a dead end,” he said.

Responding to Trump’s charge of ‘rampant pollution’, President Xi advocated the idea of a ‘green revolution’ in addition to announcing plans to strengthen the Paris climate accord. He also pledged to achieve carbon neutrality until 2060 by “adopting more vigorous policies and measures”. He urged the world to pursue a “green recovery of the world economy in the post-Covid era.”

The speeches of the world’s two most powerful leaders were followed by angry reactions from their respective administrations. China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun took a strong exception to President Trump’s speech and accused America of spreading ‘political virus’. Highlighting President Xi’s mantra of global cooperation, he stated, “The world is at a crossroads. At this moment the world needs more solidarity and cooperation, but not confrontation.”

Not to be left behind, White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, when asked to explain Trump’s strong stance on China, said, “There is no bigger bully than China when it comes to Covid.”

Speeches at the UN General Assembly are important, in that they provide an opportunity to the member countries to outline their formal positions on global issues. Going by their contents, they also help identify the challenges facing the world and gauging the relevance and necessity of global response to offset them.

The more appropriate framework to analyse the speeches of Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is to imagine a world torn apart by intense rivalry between the two major powers. The world is now facing a prospect of a new cold war that is becoming more real by the day. Every global crisis is increasing the chasm and deepening the divides. The countries standing in the middle of this sharp division between Washington and Beijing are finding it hard to negotiate this new tumult in international relations.

French President Macron articulated this increasing concern when he warned against the threats and pitfalls of the emerging rivalry, stating that it should not be allowed to shape the future of the world. He called for a ‘modern new consensus’ to tackle global issues.

America and China are offering starkly contrasting responses to global challenges. The two speeches that the world listened to, with bewilderment, presented two clashing visions of the future. America’s gradual withdrawal from the position of global leadership has weakened the rule-based order with the UN at the core. While the old system is teetering, the new one in the offing is not yet ready to replace it.

The transition of global leadership will certainly exact its cost as the world prepares for more chaos down the line.

The writer, a Chevening scholar, studied International Journalism at the University of Sussex.

Email: amanatchpk@gmail.com

Twitter: @Amanat222