Donald Trump savages China over virus, environment in UN address
The US President lashed Beijing during the virtual UN General Assembly, as the UN secretary-general warned of a new Cold War.
Donald Trump has savaged China in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, calling on the world to hold Beijing accountable for unleashing the deadly coronavirus.
In a speech delivered virtually to the UN because of the pandemic, Mr Trump accused China of lying about the virus and of letting it infect the world.
“We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world: China,” Mr Trump told the global body.
“In the earliest days of the virus, China locked down travel domestically while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world. The Chinese government, and the World Health Organisation — which is virtually controlled by China — falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
“Later, they falsely said people without symptoms would not spread the disease … The United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions,” he said.
The president has sharply stepped up his attacks on China during this election campaign raising concerns among many UN nations of a new Cold War between the world’s economic superpowers.
António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, warned the General Assembly about the risks of a new Cold War between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.
“A technological and economic divide risks inevitably turning into a geo-strategic and military divide,” Mr Guterres said. “We must avoid this at all costs.”
China’s UN Ambassador, Zhang Jun, who introduced Xi Jinping’s remarks, said Beijing “resolutely rejects the baseless accusations against China”.
In his address Mr Xi said “we have no intention to fight either a cold war or a hot one with any country”.
“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.
“We should stay true to multilateralism and safeguard the international system with the UN at the core,” Mr Xi said. “Major countries should act like major countries,” he added, and “live up to people’s expectations.”
Mr Xi defended China’s actions on the coronavirus and called for a more united global approach to tackling the pandemic.
“Facing the virus, we should enhance solidarity and get the world together,” Mr Xi said. “Several vaccines developed by China are in Phase 3 clinical trials.”
Mr Trump also used his speech to attack China over its environmental record.
“Every year, China dumps millions and millions of tons of plastic and trash into the oceans, overfishes other countries’ waters, destroys vast swathes of coral reef, and emits more toxic mercury into the atmosphere than any country anywhere in the world,” Mr Trump said.
“China’s carbon emissions are nearly twice what the US has, and it’s rising fast. By contrast, after I withdrew from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord, last year America reduced its carbon emissions by more than any country in the agreement.
“Those who attack America’s exceptional environmental record while ignoring China’s rampant pollution are not interested in the environment. They only want to punish America, and I will not stand for it,” Mr Trump said.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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