Xi Jinping calls for global unity in fight against Covid-19
- In a video-link address to the World Economic Forum, Xi says countries should ‘ditch their cold war mentality’ and work together
- Speech also warns of continued problems the world economy is facing and says meeting climate commitments will take time
In an address via video-link to the World Economic Forum, he said: “Countries are not riding separately in some 190 small boats, but are rather all in a giant ship on which our shared destiny hinges. Small boats may not survive a storm, but a giant ship is strong enough to brave a storm.”
He continued: “We need to discard the cold war mentality and seek peaceful coexistence and win-win outcomes. Our world today is far from being tranquil; rhetoric that stokes hatred and prejudice abounds.
“History has proved time and again that confrontation does not solve problems; it only invites catastrophic consequences.”
Without naming any countries, Xi said: “Acts of single-mindedly building ‘exclusive yards with high walls’ or ‘parallel systems’, of enthusiastically putting together exclusive small circles or blocs that polarise the world … will gravely undercut international efforts to tackle common challenges.”
Other speakers at the five-day conference – which for the second year in a row is being held online – include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, US climate envoy John Kerry and the White House’s chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci.