Chinese envoy slams unilateral coercive measures for hindering global governance, development

A Chinese envoy on Thursday slammed unilateral coercive measures for severely hampering global governance and international cooperation on socio-economic development.

At a seminar themed "Unilateral coercive measures and their negative impact on socio-economic development of states," Li Song, China's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations in Vienna, said, "Unilateral coercive measures are the enemy of multilateralism and developing countries."

The event was convened on the margins of the ongoing General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), which opened on Monday and will run through Friday.

"The measures are absolute hegemony, unilateralism and power politics, which violate the purposes and principles of the Charter of the UN, contravene international law and run counter to multilateralism and the basic norms governing international relations," Li said.

Li noted that unilateral coercive measures have seriously hampered the socio-economic development of the countries that suffer from them, and violated the human rights of the people of the countries concerned.

In addition, unilateral coercive measures also have a bearing on multilateral platforms, international environment and prospects for international development cooperation, the Chinese envoy said, calling the international community to oppose such measures on various multilateral platforms on the basis of realizing the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promoting international cooperation for development.

It requires awareness-raising by the international community and joint attention by multilateral platforms, including international financial institutions, to tackle the impact of unilateral coercive measures on sustainable development and international cooperation, Li said.

He added that China stands ready to enhance communication with all parties to jointly safeguard the legitimate right to development of the Global South and actively promote international cooperation for development.

At the seminar, representatives from Russia, Iran and Venezuela accused the United States and some Western countries of weaponizing unilateral coercive measures, which have caused severe harm to the people of their countries.

Also on Thursday, 10 countries, including China, Russia, Iran and Cuba, issued a joint statement on unilateral coercive measures at the UNIDO General Conference, criticizing such measures for hindering the realization of the UN 2030 SDGs and the promotion of inclusive and sustainable industrialization, according to China's permanent mission to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna.

(Cover: A file photo of Li Song, China's permanent representative to the United Nations. /Xinhua)