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UN General Assembly: World must prevent new Cold War, Guterres warns UN General Assembly: US-China tensions flare over coronavirus
(about 2 hours later)
The world must do all it can to prevent a new Cold War, the UN chief has warned, as he opened a general assembly set to be dominated by US-China tensions and the Covid-19 pandemic. Tensions between the US and China came to the fore of the annual UN General Assembly in New York, with US President Donald Trump blaming China for the spread of coronavirus.
Secretary-General António Guterres said the world was moving in a "dangerous direction", speaking of the fracture created by "the two largest economies". He called for China to be held "accountable" for the pandemic.
Both US President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping are to speak later. In his speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country had "no intention to enter a Cold War with any country".
This year's assembly is mostly being held virtually. Ties between the two world powers are strained on a number of fronts.
Normally, the UN headquarters would be filled with world leaders and their representatives, who use the occasion to talk up their achievements and talk down their rivals, correspondents say. This year's summit at New York is largely being held virtually, with world leaders providing pre-recorded speeches.
Instead, figures like the US and Chinese president have provided pre-recorded speeches. The new format meant some of the geopolitical theatre normally on offer at the key UN meeting was absent. Each country was represented by a single delegate and there was little opportunity for one nation to rebut another.
In his address at the UN building in New York, Mr Guterres said: "We are moving in a very dangerous direction. But as often is the case for speeches to the assembly, President Trump used his address to tout his achievements and tear into a rival.
"Our world cannot afford a future where the two largest economies split the globe in a great fracture - each with its own trade and financial rules and internet and artificial intelligence capacities." "We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague on to the world - China," he said.
The US and China are at loggerheads on a number of issues, from trade to the coronavirus pandemic. "In the earliest days of the virus China locked down travel domestically, while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world. China condemned my travel ban on their country, even as they cancelled domestic flights and locked citizens in their homes," he added.
On the outbreak, Mr Guterres said: "The pandemic is a crisis unlike any we have ever seen. But it is also the kind of crisis that we will see in different forms again and again. Covid-19 is not only a wake-up call, it is a dress rehearsal for the world of challenges to come." President Trump, whose own record on coronavirus is under close scrutiny as the US heads towards elections, has frequently accused Beijing of covering up the virus, saying they could have stopped the disease spreading. China has called the attacks an unfounded distraction.
The US death toll for coronavirus, at more than 200,000, is the highest in the world and President Trump has often downplayed the disease.
Tensions are high between the US and China on a number of other issues, including trade, technology, Hong Kong and China's treatment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province.
Speaking soon after the US leader, President Xi warned of the risks of a "clash of civilisations".
"We will continue to narrow differences and resolve disputes with others through dialogue and negotiation. We will not seek to develop only ourselves or engage in zero sum game," he said.
In remarks released ahead of Tuesday's speech, President Xi took a more overt swipe at the US, saying "no country has the right to dominate global affairs, control the destiny of others, or keep advantages in development all to itself", something China itself has been accused of by critics.
Trump targets US voters
By Laura Trevelyan, BBC News
This was a stump speech by President Trump, who faces re-election in 40 days time. He had Bejing firmly in his sights - blaming what he and his followers call the China virus for taking countless lives.
Mr Trump is trying to deflect attention from his own handling of the pandemic by heaping opprobrium on China, while emphasising US efforts to find a cure.
We will end the pandemic, the US president pledged, saying thanks to our efforts three vaccines are in the final stage of development. For good measure, Mr Trump lumped the UN's World Health Organization into his critique of China - saying the international body, which he's withdrawing US funding from, is virtually controlled by China, blaming it for spreading what he called misinformation about the virus.
This was not a subtle speech. It was a clear attempt to shift blame as Americans are already voting in the presidential election.
The assembly was opened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who, without naming China or the US warned "we must do everything to avoid a new Cold War".
"We are moving in a very dangerous direction," he said. "Our world cannot afford a future where the two largest economies split the globe in a great fracture - each with its own trade and financial rules and internet and artificial intelligence capacities."
He said there was no room for self-interest in the face of the coronavirus. "Populism and nationalism have failed," he said. "Those approaches to contain the virus have often made things manifestly worse."
President Trump gave a very different vision in his speech, saying "only when you take care of your own citizens will you find a true basis for cooperation".