"New cold war": at the UN, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping try to reassure without convincing
The UN General Assembly during the speech by US President Joe Biden on September 21, 2021 in New York.
Getty Images via AFP - POOL
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
This Tuesday, September 21, by opening the 76th General Assembly, the UN Secretary General expressed his fears that the world is breaking up into two distinct blocs.
A situation which, if confirmed, could be worse than the episode of the Cold War.
Without naming them, Antonio Guterres was targeting China and the United States.
The main stakeholders did everything to calm things down during their speeches which followed.
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With our correspondent in New York,
Carrie Nooten
“
We don't want a new cold war.
Joe Biden immediately responded to the fears of Antonio Guterres - and the rest of the world - worried about the rise in tensions in recent months between the United States and China.
The US president admits it: on certain major issues, such as the climate, the pandemic or the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, solutions cannot be found without coordination between the two powers.
But Joe Biden warns all the same: the United States will never allow a small country to be invaded.
One thinks of the Taiwanese dispute immediately.
►
Also listen: Biden at the UN: multilateralism put to the test
Fragile
status quo
A few hours later, it is Xi Jinping's turn to speak.
As in his speech last year, the Chinese president poses as a great follower of multilateralism, argues the need for dialogue and cooperation.
Joe Biden is no longer in the process of breaking Donald Trump, the words of the Chinese number one strangely echo those of his American counterpart.
He also claims the right of China to take its place as a superpower, fully.
Xi and Biden thus tried to reassure, but the
status quo
seems to remain very fragile.
►
See also: UN General Assembly: Macron, active absence against the backdrop of the Indo-Pacific crisis
In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro's speech at the UN draws much criticism
With our correspondent in Sao Paulo,
Martin Bernard
It was the Brazilian president who was the first head of state to speak on Tuesday, September 21 at the UN General Assembly.
Jair Bolsonaro has said he wants to change Brazil's image on the road.
He spoke about pandemic and Amazonia, but his remarks provoked many reactions in his own country.
While still unvaccinated, Jair Bolsonaro was delighted that nearly 90% of the adult population has received, according to him, at least one dose of the vaccine.
But he again sparked controversy by praising the merits of a so-called "
early treatment
" based on chloroquine, much criticized by the scientific community.
The parliamentary commission of inquiry, which is currently working on the subject, condemned these remarks, while the balance sheet of the pandemic is approaching 600,000 deaths.
"
A country that does not exist
"
But it is especially in the Amazon that the reactions have been the most virulent.
“
Over the past three years, Brazil has broken successive deforestation records
,” underlines the World Wide Fund for Nature.
"
A president who neglects the climate crisis, speaks of a country that does not exist
", assures, for his part, Greenpeace.
And Márcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, concluded: “
There is only one way for President Bolsonaro to help improve the image of Brazil: it would be to go up to the rostrum, and to say: "I resign"
.
"
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