Xi Jinping warns world leaders of 'new cold war'
Today, Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned world leaders against "starting a new cold war" and urged global solidarity in the face of the emerging coronavirus.
After China has largely contained the spread of the epidemic within its borders, Xi wants his country to assume a key position in a new multilateral world order at a time when the United States is still suffering from the epidemic.
Without naming the United States, Xi advocated for pluralism and globalization, as he did in the forum itself four years ago, just before Donald Trump's arrival to the presidency in the United States.
Less than a week after Joe Biden entered the White House, it appears that the Chinese president has issued a warning to him against revitalizing global alliances to counter China's growing influence.
Xi Jinping said, "Forming small conglomerates or starting a new cold war, ostracizing, threatening or intimidating others, imposing divisions or sanctions or disrupting supply networks in order to isolate, will only contribute to pushing the world into division and even confrontation."
In a harsh criticism of Trump's policy against China, Xi said the confrontation "will always harm the interests of each country and sacrifice the well-being of the people."
The Chinese president also reaffirmed Beijing's ambitious climate pledges to reduce carbon emissions by 65% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, both of which are major commitments by a country that is responsible for emissions of a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases.
"Achieving these goals requires tremendous hard work on the part of China. But we believe that when the interests of all mankind are at stake, China must advance, take action and get the job done," he said.
Xi also called for stronger global governance through multilateral organizations, removing barriers to international trade, investment and technology exchanges, as well as enhancing the representation of developing countries on the world stage.
He stressed the importance of strengthening macroeconomic policies to combat the global economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.
"We must build an open global economy, firmly protect the multilateral trading system and refrain from establishing discriminatory and exclusive standards, rules and regulations, in addition to high walls separating trade, investment and technology," he said.
Backed by confidence in his country's management of the epidemic, Xi made ambitious climate pledges and promised to support multilateralism as US-China relations entered their worst phase in decades under the Trump administration.
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