In the spotlight: the silences of a man at the UN General Assembly
Audio 05:11
The arrival of US President Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly on September 21, 2021 © AP / John Minchillo
By: Mehdi Meddeb
9 mins
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Thirty minutes of speech - his first at the UN - and "
Joe Biden never uttered the word China,
" notes
The New York Times
. But Beijing was at the center of "
all these remarks
", also notes
The Wall Street Journal
. The only explicit mention, underlines
El Pais
, was "
referring to the Uighurs [...] We must denounce the abuses in Xinjiang
" [of the Chinese regime], said the American president, quoted by the Spanish daily. "
We are not looking - repeat it - we are not looking for a new cold war
", emphasizes the
New York Times
. In reality, a speech in the form of "
declaration of intentions
”for the Spanish newspaper,“
without answers and explanations to his allies irritated by the precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan or the pact against China
”.
The silence of a Biden on the deep quarrel with France. The
Washington Post
points out that there too "
he did not mention the controversy
." A Biden who didn't hit the mark. “
Little public support
”, analyzes the American daily, “
on the larger argument that China would be an existential threat to democratic governments
”. In short, a “
cutesy and stiff
”
speech
, says
Le Soir
in Belgium. A speech which "
swarms with platitudes, wrapped around this '
America is back
'
now mocked by European diplomats behind the scenes,
" ends up sinking the Belgian daily.
Faced with Biden, his opponent of the day answered him in very diplomatic terms
In a recorded video, President Xi Jinping replied that "
democracy was not a special right reserved for a single country
", notes
The South China Morning Post
which explains that "
the two men have juggled their differences
".
The big Hong Kong daily wonders why the Chinese president finally wanted to appear on video when it was not planned.
"
With in the background: a representation of the great wall
".
He announced the end of the construction of new coal-fired power plants abroad.
"
A great line in the sand,
" greets an expert in
The Guardian
.
It is of course on the climate that the two leaders competed for announcements.
Politico puts before the fact that Biden said he was to "
quadruple aid to poor countries to cope with global warming
."
Afghanistan also occupies debates at the UN and in foreign newspapers
"
We have put an end to 20 years of war in Afghanistan,
" Joe Biden once again said at the United Nations podium.
This sentence of the American president crashes on the wall of reality, according to
The Wall Street Journal
, relentless: "
The dissonance between [his] words and his actions in abandoning Afghanistan to the Taliban discredits his liberal humanitarian project
", judges the leading newspaper of the American economic elite.
Before letting go: “
noble but inept exhortations
”.
An Afghan breach in which the President of China has also plunged.
All in convolutions, Xi Jinping did not hesitate to remind that "
the military intervention and the so-called democratic transformation have brought about the worst
”.
The Global Times
, the official tabloid of the Chinese PC, puts forward the dialogue, Chinese mantras. Dialogue also advocated by Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar. At the UN Tribune, Qatar, "
whose country has played a central role
," recalls
The Huffington Post
. "
Boycotting them would only polarize the situation,
" Sheikh Tamim attempted. A pro domo offensive by the Taliban. Who yesterday expressed the wish to speak at the UN platform. And another of their sponsor, Pakistan, in the person of its Minister of Foreign Affairs, publishes in
La Repubblica
an article aiming to defend the "
healing of Afghanistan
" and "
to do everything to avoid its economic collapse [...] and to help an inter-Afghan reconciliation
, ”he wrote in the Italian newspaper.
The UN General Assembly, these are also the escapades of the Bolsonaro clan pinned by the press
“
An outcast on the sidewalk
”, for
Folha de Sao Paolo
.
The Brazilian press mocks the pizza episode in the middle of the street for the one who still boasts of being unvaccinated when he meets the British Prime Minister unmasked.
O Globo
, the great Brazilian media narrate the New York misadventures of President Bolsonaro with his ministers.
All sheepish, on the corner of the sidewalk, we see them handing out their piece of pizza, according to a photo relayed by
O Globo
.
In the same article, it is the Minister of Health who makes the fingers of honor - "
obscene gesture
" for
O Globo
-, to demonstrators "
crying genocide, murderer ... Out Bolsnonaro
".
This same minister who, we learn, has just caught the Covid-19.
He will therefore be in quarantine for 14 days in New York.
And therefore not even be able to go out on the sidewalk and eat a slice of pizza.
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