President Joe Biden hijacked the U.N. General Assembly summit in New York this week with "cliché, hollow proposals for the Global South's development," Chinese state propaganda outlet the Global Times wrote Wednesday.
During his address Tuesday, Biden spent a significant chunk of time encouraging U.N. members to support Ukraine.
He also described the partnerships that the U.S. government was fostering around the globe — from Africa to the Indo-Pacific — that he said were creating economic security and other advancements, even as he stressed that those relationships were not about "containing any country" — a clear reference to Beijing.
"When it comes to China, let me be clear and consistent," Biden said. "We seek to responsibly manage competition between our countries, so it does not tip into conflict. I've said we are for de-risking — not decoupling — with China."
Biden said Beijing and Washington need to cooperate on climate and referenced recent natural disasters — devastating heat waves, droughts, and floods around the globe — as part of a "snapshot" that tells the "urgent story of what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof the world."
China's Xi Jinping, France's Emmanuel Macron, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and the U.K.'s Rishi Sunak did not attend the summit. Xi has spoken at the assembly only three times in the past decade and Putin twice. Macron said he couldn't attend ahead of King Charles III's visit, and Sunak cited a busy schedule.
The Global Times said Biden put the Russia-Ukraine crisis "center stage" at this year's General Assembly and "failed to offer substantial proposal to push for the development of the Global South."
"Biden has once again turned the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) into a runway for touting U.S. 'leadership,'" the Global Times noted. "He has made the Ukraine crisis the spotlight of the gathering to shore up alliance of U.S.-centered small cliques and used the crisis as a weapon to attack other countries."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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