UN General Assembly: Leaders defend multilateralism at global gathering

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Europe

03:06

At the UN headquarters in New York, one day of debates remain at the Seventy-third General Assembly. World leaders took to the podium to talk about a wide range of issues -- but as CGTN's Liling Tan explains, one recurring theme has stood out.

Looking back on a week of high-level speeches and side-level meetings, multilateralism - the principle of international cooperation to solve world problems - was the common refrain. Both the need for it, and the defense of it.

EMMANUEL MACRON FRENCH PRESIDENT "At a time when our collective system is falling apart, sadly, it is most in demand."

WANG YI CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER "Equality, mutual trust and win-win cooperation are the call of our times, whereas power politics and the rule of the jungle find no support."

HEIKO MAAS GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER "Action based solely on nationalism, with the objective of putting 'my country first', reaches its limits here - not least because our climate knows no borders."

For a week, world leaders among the United Nations' 193 member states took the rostrum to address their peers, and met behind the scenes to discuss global issues that require multilateral solutions.

They fought to save the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, following a unilateral withdrawal by the United States.

They discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after the U.S. defied a majority of nations by declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel and moving the U.S. embassy there.

LILING TAN NEW YORK "And it appears that much of the defense of multilateralism was directed at the United States less by a direct mention of America, than by the international pacts and agencies that the Trump administration has criticized or snubbed."

SERGEY LAVROV RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER "The attacks have been launched against the basic principles of the Middle East settlement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program, the commitments within the World Trade Organization framework, the multilateral climate agreement and many more."

EMMANUEL MACRON FRENCH PRESIDENT "For that reason, we shall support those working for peace and humanity; UNESCO, the conscience if you'd like of the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, UNRWA."

WANG YI CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER "International trade is complimentary and win-win by nature. It should not be a zero-sum game in which one gains at the expense of the others. No one should be allowed to place its own interests above the interests of others."

As for U.S. President Donald Trump:

DONALD TRUMP US PRESIDENT "America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control and domination."

Trump's speech was heavy on the defense of sovereignty over multilateralism, a position that many world leaders, diplomats and UN officials fear is at odds with the core tenet of an organization made up of nations that are supposed to be united in tackling global challenges. Liling Tan, CGTN, New York.