Global threats require the US to expand its converging interests with China instead of pursuing a new Cold War
The history of the United Nations is compelling. The birth of the world""s premier institution for promoting peace and development was tied to the aftermath of World War II.
One of the UN""s most important works is to steer governments to strive to achieve goals for the betterment of the people of the world－as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These include eliminating poverty and hunger, providing education and healthcare, cleaning up pollution and reducing carbon emissions, creating jobs, strengthening institutions, as well as partnering with stakeholders. Without the UN, there would be no institution able to work across ideological divides advocating peace in war-torn places and promoting public health in the poorest and least-developed countries.
The UN""s influence in development is through urging, nudging and reminding governments not to forget to design their domestic policies to advance development goals. It is also there to collect data to track progress and spell out failures.
On Sept 22, at the opening of the 75th session of the UN""s General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did not mince words－he said the world was seeing rising inequalities, widening social divisions, rampant corruption and catastrophes arising from climate change.
Saying that the novel coronavirus outbreak is hurting the most vulnerable people across the world and has wiped away decades of development progress in many countries, Guterres called on leaders to unite and act in solidarity. Significantly, he urged the world to avoid a "new Cold War".
Why did he say that? Guterres uttered what the world fears. Instead of collaboration during such a trying time, he was concerned that the two largest economies might "split the globe in a great fracture each with its own trade and financial rules and internet and artificial intelligence capacities". While he did not name the United States and China, it was clear to all which countries he was referring to.
It did not help that the US leader in his remarks to the session used inflammatory language to blame China for the ills in the world especially those ravaging his own country from the pandemic to the environment, thereby ratcheting up tension.
The administration in the United States sees the country as being so powerful that it does not need to work with anyone, that it can practice a special kind of unilateralism because of its long standing economic and military dominance.
China refutes the US"" accusations. Chinese President Xi Jinping was measured in his remarks-China had "no intention to fight either a cold war or a hot one with any country … We will continue to narrow differences and resolve disputes with others through dialogue and negotiation".
The messages from the US and China could not be more different. While the US message is "America first", China""s message was multilateralism. China sees the world as more interconnected than ever, "with countries sharing intertwined interests and their futures closely linked together. Global threats and global challenges require strong, global responses".
President Xi wanted the UN to conduct even more extensive consultation and promote joint contributions and shared benefits. He urged the major countries to lead by example, promote cooperation and support dialogue. China""s vision of multilateralism is "to expand the converging interests of all and build a big global family of harmony and cooperation".
He specifically mentioned the urgency of advancing the 2030 Agenda to promote the rights to subsistence and development in the post-pandemic era. This is not surprising coming from China since it has achieved great success in poverty reduction, which was achieved through its single-minded focus on poverty alleviation over several decades.
Despite China""s support for multilateralism, this is a sensitive time for the world. The US-China frictions that started in 2018 over trade and tariffs have now spilled over to technology and finance.
A popular topic in the corridors of power is the "decoupling" of the Chinese and US economies and the "end of globalization". US officials have also called for "a new alliance of democracies" to oppose China, when most countries prefer not to take sides, as it is not in their interest to do so.
Amid the palpable concern, China pulled a welcomed surprise. President Xi announced China would aim to have carbon emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This means China""s total carbon emissions will start to fall after the peak－and that will be achieved before this decade is out－and it will release no additional carbon into the atmosphere before 2060.
The subtle message behind China""s new commitment is that it will be focusing on even heavier investments in science and engineering, so that it can make major advances in low-carbon energy transformation, digitalization, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, robotics and many types of technologies that the US fears China may lead the world.
President Xi cited the UN-backed Paris Agreement that he and former US president Barack Obama helped forge in 2015 to remind the US of a time when despite many differences, the two countries could still work together for the better of the world. It was in fact a high point in UN history. Many people would be happy if they could rewind the clock back to that time of cooperation between the world""s two leading powers.
The author is former under-secretary for the environment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a legislative councilor. She is also the chief development strategist at the Institute for the Environment at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.