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US, China take a less belligerent tone in remarks to UN Security Council
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Wang Yi both praise multilateralism, but also imply that the other is undermining it
- ‘We ask the world to judge our commitment by our actions,’ Blinken says
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Jacob Fromerin Washington
Top diplomats from Beijing and Washington praised multilateralism at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, but in thinly veiled criticism accused each other of undermining it.
“Splitting the world along the ideological line conflicts with a spirit of multilateralism, and is a regression in history,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who chaired the meeting.
Shortly afterward, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We will continue to push back forcefully when we see countries undermine the international order, pretend that the rules we’ve all agreed to don’t exist, or simply violate them at will.”
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The comments, delivered in prepared speeches, come amid a severely deteriorated US-China relationship, with tensions running high over human rights, trade policy and territorial claims along China’s periphery.
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It was the second meeting – this time, a virtual one – for Wang and Blinken during the Biden administration.
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