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Biden says US not seeking 'Cold War' as he vows to lead
In addresses hours apart at the UN General Assembly, Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping both made major new pledges on climate change, raising guarded hope that the world's two largest emitters and polluters can bring progress.
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US President Joe Biden addresses the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 21, 2021. (AFP/Eduardo Munoz)
P
resident Joe Biden told the world Tuesday the United States is not seeking a new Cold War with China, as he vowed to pivot from post-9/11 conflicts and take a global leadership role on crises from climate to Covid-19.
In addresses hours apart at the UN General Assembly, Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping both made major new pledges on climate change, raising guarded hope that the world's two largest emitters and polluters can bring progress.
The Biden administration has identified a rising and authoritarian China as the paramount challenge of the 21st century, but in his debut address to the annual UN summit, Biden made clear he was not trying to sow divisions.
"We are not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs," Biden said.
"The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges even if we have intense disagreement in other areas."
Biden did not mention China by name, other than voicing alarm about human rights in Xinjiang, where experts say more than one million people from the Uyghur and other mostly Muslim populations are incarcerated.
Biden declared himself to be the first US president in 20 years not to be running a war after his controversial pullout of troops from Afghanistan, where the Taliban swiftly took over.
