{"id":26351,"date":"2021-09-22T10:20:59","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T04:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/at-u-n-biden-calls-for-diplomacy-not-conflict-but-some-are-skeptical\/"},"modified":"2021-09-22T10:22:14","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T04:52:14","slug":"at-u-n-biden-calls-for-diplomacy-not-conflict-but-some-are-skeptical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/at-u-n-biden-calls-for-diplomacy-not-conflict-but-some-are-skeptical\/","title":{"rendered":"At U.N., Biden Calls for Diplomacy, not Conflict, but Some Are Skeptical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">President Biden, fighting mounting doubts among America\u2019s allies about his commitment to working with them, used his debut address to the United Nations on Tuesday to call for \u201crelentless diplomacy\u201d on climate change, the pandemic and efforts to blunt the expanding influence of autocratic nations like China and Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In a 30-minute speech, Mr. Biden called on the General Assembly to a new era in global action. He argued that the summer of wildfires and excessive heat, as well as the reemergence of the coronavirus, required a new era for unity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cOur security, our prosperity and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view as never before,\u201d Biden reiterated that the United States of America and its Western allies will remain crucial partners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">He did not mention the discord caused by his actions, such as the chaos in Afghanistan when the Taliban retook power 20 years later. And he made no mention of his administration\u2019s blowup with one of America\u2019s closest allies, France, which was cast aside in a secret submarine deal with Australia to confront China\u2019s influence in the Pacific.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Those two foreign policy crises, while sharply different in nature, have led some American partners to question Mr. Biden\u2019s commitment to empowering traditional alliances, with some publicly accusing him of perpetuating elements of former President Donald J. Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d approach, though wrapped in far more inclusive language.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Throughout his speech, Mr. Biden never uttered the word \u201cChina,\u201d though his efforts to redirect American competitiveness and national security policy have been built around countering Beijing\u2019s growing influence. He clung to his discussion with a number of choices, which essentially boiled down into supporting democracy over autocracy. This was a sharp critique of President Xi Jinping in China and Vladimir V. Putin in Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cWe\u2019re not seeking \u2014 say it again, we are not seeking \u2014 a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs,\u201d He stated. Yet in describing what he called an \u201cinflection point in history,\u201d he talked about the need to choose whether new technologies would be used as \u201ca force to empower people or deepen repression.\u201d At one point he explicitly referred to the targeting of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region of western China.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The president\u2019s senior aides, at least publicly, have been dismissing the idea that China and the United States, with the world\u2019s largest economies, were dividing the world into opposing camps, seeking allies to counter each other\u2019s influence, as America and the Soviet Union once did. The relationship with Beijing, they have argued, unlike the Cold War rivalry with Moscow, is marked by deep economic interdependence and some areas of common interests, from the climate to containing North Korea\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In private, however, officials acknowledge growing similarities. As China expands its territorial claims, and threatens Taiwan, the American-British agreement to equip Australia with nuclear powered submarines is clearly an attempt to reset the naval balance of the Pacific. The United States has been trying to block Chinese access technology and Western communication systems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cThe future belongs to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron-hand authoritarianism,\u201d It was clear who Mr. Biden meant by what he said. \u201cThe authoritarians of the world, they seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Several hours later, Mr. Biden was gone from the podium. Mr. Xi addressed the General Assembly in a prerecorded audio. He rejected American portrayals that his government is repressive or expansionist and stated that he supports peaceful growth for all peoples.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Xi\u2019s language was restrained, and like Mr. Biden he did not name his country\u2019s chief rival, but he made a clear allusion to China\u2019s anger over the Australian submarine pact. The world must \u201creject the practice of forming small circles or zero-sum games,\u201d he said, adding that international disputes \u201cneed to be handled through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of quality and mutual respect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">He also announced that his country would stop building \u201cnew coal-fired power projects abroad,\u201d ending one of the dirtiest fossil-fuel programs. China is the world&#8217;s largest investor in coal-fired power stations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden\u2019s debut at the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York was muted by the pandemic. The pandemic prevented many national leaders from attending, as well as the usual large receptions and traffic jams that characterize the September ritual.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">He only stayed for a short time and met one ally: Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister. Later in the day, Mr. Biden met Prime Minster Boris Johnson of Britain who was the other party to the submarine deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The nuclear submarine agreement that they had secretly negotiated was revealed by the three countries last week. Australia stated that it would not sign a previous agreement for France to build conventionally powered submarines. This upset French leaders who felt they had been betrayed. The surprise announcements tied Australian defense more closely to the United States \u2014 a huge shift for a country that, just a few years ago, aimed to avoid taking sides in the American-Chinese rivalry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Up until Tuesday, Mr. Biden hadn&#8217;t seen Mr. Johnson or Mr. Morrison since June when they were deep into negotiations that were kept from President Emmanuel Macron of France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">On Tuesday, there was no conversation between Mr. Biden or Mr. Macron. Mr. Biden was so angry about the submarine deals and the silence from his closest partners that he summoned the French ambassador to Washington. This move was unprecedented in over 240 years of relations as well as that of the envoy of Australia. It was not clear if the scheduling issues prevented the men from speaking on the phone or if Mr. Macron was deliberately being difficult to reach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The speech Mr. Biden gave sounded very much like what he would say before the Taliban took Kabul without resistance and before Europe&#8217;s pivot towards Asia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The president has bristled, aides say, when the French have compared him to his predecessor, as Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, did on Tuesday, telling reporters that the \u201cspirit\u201d of Mr. Trump\u2019s approach to dealing with allies \u201cis still the same\u201d under Mr. Biden. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Other allies have objected to how Mr. Biden set an Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan \u2014 with minimal consultation, they contend. The White House argues that NATO allies were fully informed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">If the Taliban&#8217;s rapid fall had been predicted, the Afghanistan deadline would likely have caused only back-room grumbling. Instead, the scramble to fly foreigners in August and the Afghans who supported them created a picture of American negligence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The Taliban nominated an ambassador, Suhail Shaheen, the movement\u2019s spokesman based in Doha, Qatar, to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations and requested that he be allowed to address this year\u2019s General Assembly, U.N. officials said Tuesday. The Taliban\u2019s request, which must be evaluated by the General Assembly\u2019s Credentials Committee, sets up a showdown with the current envoy, appointed by Afghanistan\u2019s toppled government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">On Afghanistan, Mr. Biden tried on Tuesday to turn to the larger picture \u2014 \u201cWe\u2019ve ended 20 years of conflict,\u201d he said \u2014 making the case that the United States was now freer to pursue challenges like the climate crisis, cyberattacks and pandemics. He delivered a more consciliatory message than his predecessor who disregarded alliances, insulted adversaries and threatened military action against North Korea or Iran at different times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cU.S. military power must be our tool of last resort, not our first,\u201d Mr. Biden said, \u201cand it should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">He ran through a litany of international arrangements and institutions he has rejoined over the last eight months, including the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization. He spoke of the United States seeking a seat in the U.N. Human Rights Council and reestablishing the Iran Nuclear Deal, which Trump left.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Iran was actually the center of a lot back-room diplomacy as Iran&#8217;s new foreign minister, Hossein Abdollahian met with European leaders who called for a resumption of the nuclear talks in Vienna, which ended in June. Iranian officials stated that talks would resume in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">But American and European officials expect the government of Iran\u2019s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, to seek a high price for returning to the accord, pressuring the West by moving closer to bomb-grade uranium production than ever before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Although Mr. Raisi was not able to make it to New York, he gave a passionate speech via video. \u201cToday, the world doesn\u2019t care about \u2018America First\u2019 or \u2018America is Back,\u2019\u201d He stated. He added, \u201cSanctions are the U.S.\u2019s new way of war with the nations of the world.\u201d But he did not rule out returning to the accord \u2014 in return for sanctions relief. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden cast the coronavirus pandemic as a prime example of the need for peaceful international cooperation, saying, \u201cbombs and bullets cannot defend against Covid-19 or its future variants.\u201d And he pushed back against arguments that the United States, which is moving toward giving booster shots to some vaccinated people, is doing too little for poorer countries where vaccination has barely begun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The United States has \u201cshipped more than 160 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to other countries,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cWe need a collective act of science and political will,\u201d He added. \u201cWe need to act now to get shots in arms as fast as possible, and expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments, to save lives around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-pncxxs etfikam0\">Reporting was contributed by Rick Gladstone, Michael D. Shear and Farnaz Fassihi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Biden, fighting mounting doubts among America\u2019s allies about his commitment to working with them, used his debut address to the United Nations on Tuesday to call for \u201crelentless diplomacy\u201d on climate change, the pandemic and efforts to blunt the expanding influence of autocratic nations like China and Russia. In a 30-minute speech, Mr. Biden [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":26352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3266],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/At-UN-Biden-Calls-for-Diplomacy-not-Conflict-but-Some.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}