China’s 50 years at UN: Xi Jinping says international rules and order must not be dominated by one power
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Xi took a veiled swipe at American predominance over world order while also calling for peaceful coexistence in his speech at a conference in Beijing to mark the 50th anniversary of the “restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations”. The conference was attended by diplomats and representatives of international organisations in China, as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who attended virtually.
“International rules should be drawn up jointly by all 193 UN members instead of being decided by certain countries or blocs. International rules should also be followed by all 193 UN members, with no exception,” Xi was quoted as saying by official news agency Xinhua.
The Chinese leader said Beijing opposed “zero-sum confrontation” and “all forms of hegemony and power politics”, and called for different civilisations and political systems to coexist peacefully.
“No one civilisation is superior or better than the other,” said Xi, adding that a country’s path should be judged by whether it could bring prosperity and improve people’s livelihoods, citing China’s poverty alleviation efforts and its contribution to the UN budget and peacekeeping as among Beijing’s key contributions to the world.
Xi also said his concept of a “community of common destiny” was “not about replacing one system with another, or replacing one civilisation with another”, but advocating coexistence as well as the sharing of responsibility and rights among countries.