The speech by President Xi Jinping at the UN General Assembly stood in stark contrast to that of the U.S. President. President Biden’s speech came at the beginning of the first session of the assembly, and President Xi at the end. But in contrast to the more strident tones of the U.S. President, hidden behind some of the conciliatory rhetoric, President Xi calmly provided a message of hope and clarity, setting a path forward for the members out of the complex predicament facing mankind today involving “changes unseen in a century.”
He noted that at the 75th anniversary celebration of the creation of the UN last year, there had been a commitment by countries to come together and “work for the common future of present and coming generations.” But, alas, “One year on, our world is facing the combined impacts of changes unseen in a century and the COVID-19 pandemic. In all countries, people long for peace and development more than ever before, their call for equity and justice is growing stronger, and they are more determined in pursuing win-win cooperation.”
President Xi made a strong plea for taking up the fight against COVID and basing this fight on a scientific outlook. He called vaccination “a powerful weapon” in that fight and underlined China’s commitment to assuring an equitable distribution of vaccines. President Xi reiterated that China would distribute 2 billion doses of the vaccine by the end of the year.
Most significantly, he also called for a new global development initiative and for fostering global development partnerships. “Development holds the key to people’s well-being,” Xi said. “Facing the severe shocks of COVID-19, we need to work together to steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth. To this end, I would like to propose a Global Development Initiative.”
