This year’s United Nations General Assembly meeting, which opened Tuesday, takes place against a backdrop of intense competition between the United States and China, mounting geopolitical and security challenges, and pressing issues such as climate change and digital security. What Beijing brings to the conversation and says will be watched closely.
China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, will address the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday and is participating as a “special representative” of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Wang did not attend the U.N. meetings last year but is already using the opportunity to step up China’s diplomatic engagement.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Wang has already met individually with foreign ministers from Japan, Lebanon and Venezuela and spoken at the “Summit of the Future,” a high-level meeting on addressing the challenges facing the 21st century.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Liu Jian, said Beijing is hosting a series of events on the sidelines of this year’s meetings. Wang will attend events to promote Beijing’s Global Development Initiative — a Chinese Communist Party multilateral initiative to support 2030 sustainability goals – and “enhance international cooperation on AI.”
Balancing existing international organizations and China-led and created groupings, Wang will meet with other foreign ministers, attending a meeting for G20 foreign ministers and those who are members of BRICS — a political and economic grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and a growing number of countries.
Some key China issues to watch at this year’s meeting:
Taiwan: Taiwan says it should be included within the U.N. framework and has accused China of misinterpreting U.N. Resolution 2758 in 1971 to keep Taiwan from participating in the world body. Resolution 2758 transferred the seat for China at the U.N. from the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, to the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan has been self-governed since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims that the island of 23 million and its outlying islands are part of China’s territory.
South China Sea: Disputes over the South China Sea have increased over the past year as Beijing has increased its assertiveness, particularly in waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, heightening tensions with Manila and other Southeast Asian claimant states. Earlier in September, the Philippine ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel Romualdez, said that at least 20 countries will be holding a summit to discuss ways to “talk some sense” into China as tensions rise over territories that Beijing claims in the South China Sea.
Multilateralism and global governance: China maintains it is a steadfast supporter of multinationalism, focusing on addressing global issues through multilateral actors such as the United Nations. This year’s UNGA meeting will be an opportunity for Beijing to call on the international community to strengthen cooperation by promoting Xi Jinping’s Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative, which emphasize development and poverty reduction in the Global South.
Climate change and green development: The UNGA meeting will give China an outlet to reiterate its commitment to fighting climate change. Beijing is likely to emphasize its commitment to promoting green economic development and carbon neutrality and call on developed countries to help developing countries promote positive climate change policies. This past July, China announced that 51% of new car purchases were new energy vehicles, or NEVs, highlighting this transition. However, countries and international organizations such as the United States, Canada and the European Union have accused Bejing of flooding international markets with cheap electric vehicles and solar panels. China says the goods are helping move the global green transition forward.
Global security issues: China is likely to discuss its role in mediating global security issues. China will likely discuss its role as a mediator in Middle East reconciliation, emphasizing it is promoting diplomatic dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran to demonstrate its positive role in global peace. Beijing is also likely to discuss its peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On Tuesday, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, told reporters that China supplies roughly 60% of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Economic and supply chain recovery: It is also likely that China will seek to address how to best promote global supply chain stability and economic recovery through its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and other economic cooperation mechanisms. It is also expected that China will call for reducing international trade barriers. On September 18, the EU postponed a vote about potential tariffs on electric vehicles produced in China amid discussion between Beijing and Brussels regarding the tariffs.
Technological cooperation and AI governance: In July, the UNGA adopted a resolution proposed by China that works to strengthen international cooperation on artificial intelligence — also known as AI — capacity building. The resolution received broad support with 140 countries signing on to the resolution. Bejing is expected to build on this support and call for the establishment of a global technology governance framework at the summit, “encouraging international cooperation and practical actions to help countries, especially developing countries, strengthen AI capacity building,” according to China’s foreign ministry.
