BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- In his UN speeches made on Monday and Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping defended multilateralism, urged solidarity in the post-COVID era and pledged to build world peace and contribute to common development, leading joint efforts to tackle global challenges, said overseas experts.
At a time when the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary, it "finds itself and globalization, global governance, and multilateralism threatened by unilateralism and isolationism," said Jon R. Taylor, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography at the University of Texas.
A venue that is supposed to foster global collaboration now faces increased skepticism, if not outright hostility, from a collection of wealthy, developed nations, Taylor said.
"But there are hopes and aspirations. Global leaders, like President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China, are constantly calling for collaborative efforts to deal with global problems of under-development, poverty, climate crisis, non-traditional security risk and lately to fight against any evil of mankind like COVID-19 pandemic," said Leela Mani Paudyal, former Nepali ambassador to China and an expert on international affairs.
Under Xi's leadership, China is advocating multilateralism and the fundamental role of multilateral institutions including the UN and the World Trade Organization in exercising global governance and upholding international order, Paudyal said.
"What strikes me first is the tone of the speech, very solemn and pragmatic," said Sonia Bressler, a French writer and sinologist, referring to Xi's speech at the high-level meeting on Monday.
Xi's response to multilateral challenges and a deficit of multilateral solutions is clear -- "we must put an end to unilateralism. Now is the time for multilateralism," Bressler said.
The Chinese president demonstrates the need for the UN to pursue the shared future for mankind, she said.
Addressing the annual General Debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Xi pledged to provide support to the UN initiative against COVID-19, South-South cooperation and a peace and development trust fund, and to facilitate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
"China strives to ensure that developing countries have more opportunities to participate in global governance. China wants to make sure that developing countries' voices are heard," said Andrey Ostrovsky, head of the Center for Social and Economic Research of China of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"Xi not only spoke in the name of China, which will eliminate extreme poverty by the year's end, but also on behalf of developing countries," said Ruvislei Gonzalez, head of the Asia and Oceania division at Havana's Center for the Study of International Politics.
"China has always stood by the poorest nations and has given a helping hand to many nations during the COVID-19 pandemic by sending medical supplies donations and promoting scientific exchange with the world experts," Gonzalez said.
"China has emerged as the torchbearer for the defense and survival of multilateralism," said Aslam Khan, a columnist of Urdu newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt in Pakistan.
"China's rightful call to establish and develop a community with a shared future for mankind is very crucial for the reduction of poverty at a global level, sharing development and handling global devastating issues like COVID-19," Khan said. Enditem
