China takes up multilateral mantle as U.S. shrugs it off at U.N.
Tensions rise between world rivals
UNITED NATIONS — Days after President Donald Trump denounced globalism at the United Nations, China positioned itself Friday as a “champion of multilateralism” that is keeping international promises when Washington is backing away from them.
Although Foreign Minister Wang Yi denied his country was trying to eclipse the U.S. as a world leader, his speech at the U.N. General Assembly was a stark contrast to Mr. Trump’s “America First” message. It came amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China, which Mr. Trump accused this week of interfering in the upcoming U.S. midterm election. China denies the claim.
China often portrays itself as an advocate for “winwin” international cooperation, and Mr. Wang was hardly the only leader to defend the concept of multilateralism at this week’s U.N. gathering of presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other leaders. But coming in the wake of Mr. Trump’s proclamation that Americans “reject the ideology of globalism,” Mr. Wang’s speech sounded a note of rebuttal from a competing power.
“Should we seek to uphold the architecture of the world order or allow it to be eroded upon and collapse?” Mr. Wang asked. “China’s answer is clear-cut . ... China will keep to its commitment and remain a champion of multilateralism.”
In a week when Washington raised tariffs on Chinese products and Beijing responded in kind, Mr. Wang insisted that “China will not be blackmailed or yield to pressure” and warned that “protectionism will only hurt oneself, and unilateral moves will bring damage to all.”
“State-to-state relations must be based on credibility, not on willful revocation of commitments,” he said.
Mr. Wang highlighted China’s massive economy as a major contributor to global growth. He described his country’s trade policies as defending not just its own interests but the system of global economic exchange. Most other nations challenge China’s assertions that it’s a defender of free trade.
And gesturing at China’s influence in one of the international community’s most pressing issues, he encouraged North Korea — which counts China as its traditional ally and main trading partner — to keep going in “the right direction toward denuclearization.”
At the same time, he said the U.S. should “make timely and positive responses so as to truly meet the DPRK halfway” in their ongoing efforts to reach a deal that would bring an end to the nuclear ambitions of the nation formally called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. China says it has been instrumental in reducing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
Still, “China will not challenge the United States — still less will China take the place of the United States,” Mr. Wang said earlier in the day at the Council on Foreign Relations.
China has been asserting itself on the world stage under President Xi Jinping, though it continually stands by a foreign policy of noninterference in the affairs of other countries. It has long used that policy to rebuke other countries that criticize its record on human rights.
The country has come under increased criticism as its global profile has risen and its economic interests — and accompanying political clout — have spread from Asia to Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Besides China’s clash with the Trump administration, some Africans have protested what they say is an attempted Chinese takeover of their countries.
The U.S. and China are locked in a dispute over Beijing’s high-tech industrial policies. The Trump administration alleges that China steals U.S. trade secrets and forces American companies to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market. China has accused the Trump administration of bullying.
The U.S. has imposed tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese products. China has counterpunched with taxes on $110 billion in U.S. imports. The latest round of hikes came Monday.