WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Tuesday used his speech at the United Nations General Assembly to launch a series of terrifying attacks on China, calling on the global organization to hold Beijing accountable for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, such as Beijing’s record in the vicinity. and human rights issues.
“We will have to hold accountable to the country that unleashed this scourge in the world: China,” Trump told the UN in a seven-minute pre-recorded speech. “In the early days of the virus, China traveled inland, while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world. “
His comments came after UN Secretary-General Guterres warned that the world is moving in a “dangerous direction” and he needed to do everything he could to save him another bloodless war between the United States and China.
“Our world cannot last long where the two largest economies are separated into a wonderful division, each with their own industry and monetary regulations and their synthetic intelligence and Internet capabilities,” Guterres said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the general meeting shortly after Trump. He called for global cooperation to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and said that “any attempt to politicize the challenge or stigmatize will have to be rejected,” according to the simultaneous translation of his words.
Tensions have arisen between the United States and China on a number of issues, ranging from the coronavirus pandemic and electoral interference to industry and espionage positions.
Trump called COVID-19 a “Chinese virus,” a term many Asians consider offensive. And he attacked the World Health Organization, from which the United States began to withdraw, because it “practically controlled through China. “
The president also called on other world leaders to avoid criticizing America’s environmental history “while ignoring China’s pollution. “
“If the United Nations is to be an effective organization, it will have to focus on the real disorders of the world,” Trump said. “This includes terrorism, oppression of women, forced labor, drug trafficking, human and sex trafficking,” Trump said. persecution and ethnic cleansing of devout minorities “.
The United Nations General Assembly attracts heads of state and foreign ministers from around the world to the agency’s headquarters in New York, but this year’s assembly, marking the 75th anniversary of the UN, is basically virtual because of the pandemic.
Trump promotionized his “America First” foreign policy and suggested that other countries put their nation’s interests above global concerns.
“I proudly put America first, just as you put your country first,” he added. It’s good. This is what you do. “