World should not be dominated by China-US 'rivalry': Macron
UNITED NATIONS, United States — World leaders must not let themselves be dominated by a power struggle between the US and China, French President Emmanuel Macron told the UN on Tuesday, calling for a "modern new consensus" on tackling global challenges.
"The world today cannot be reduced to the rivalry between China and the United States, irrespective of the global weight of these great powers," Macron told the UN General Assembly by video.
Borrowing a term that describes a duet in ballet, he said: "We do not have to settle for a 'pas de deux' that would make us only the rueful spectators of a collective powerlessness."
Macron has already warned that Washington's retreat from the global stage will require Europe to forge its own common defense strategy, and reduce its alliance on key technologies currently supplied by US or Chinese giants.
"The complete dependence on certain powers, with regards to technologies, food or industry, creates vulnerabilities that no longer allow the balances that go hand in hand with global stability," Macron told the UN.
The coronavirus crisis, he warned, has further undermined support for multilateralism and encouraged the willingness of some nations to ignore UN injunctions or international law.
"There will surely be a cure one day for this pandemic. But there will not be a miracle cure for this destruction of the contemporary order," he said.
"This pandemic must be an electric shock for our organization," he said, urging leaders to seize a chance to "clearly lay out our choices and build new alliances."
France will work on deepening its cooperation with UN partners to ensure "that the foundations of our organization are not swept away by the pandemic."
"Multilateralism is not simply an act of faith — it's an operational necessity," he said. "No country will get out of this ordeal on its own."
The US decision to disinvite China from upcoming maritime exercises in the Pacific is "non-constructive," China's Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi says.
"We find that a very non-constructive move," Wang says at a press conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the two met in Washington.
"It's also a decision taken lightly and is unhelpful to mutual understanding between China and the US." — Agence France-Presse
The United States accuses China of orchestrating a "concerted" campaign of dangerous and provocative air force maneuvers against US military planes in international airspace, warning such moves could spark inadvertent conflict between the two powers.
The Pentagon says aggressive tactics by Chinese aircraft threatened US planes flying over the East and South China Sea regions, tallying more than 180 such incidents since fall 2021 -- "more in the past two years than in the decade before that," said Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs. — AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls on China, a partner of Iran, to use its influence to push for calm in the Middle East after Hamas militants struck Israel, provoking retaliation and fears that violence will spread.
The top US diplomat, who was visiting Saudi Arabia, had a "productive" one-hour telephone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says.
"Our message was that he thinks it's in our shared interest to stop the conflict from spreading." Miller tells reporters on Blinken's plane from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi. — AFP
The US Justice Department says a US Navy petty officer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to providing sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer.
Wenheng Zhao, 26, and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August on suspicion of spying for China.
Zhao pleaded guilty in a federal court in California to charges of conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and accepting a bribe, the Justice Department says in a statement. — AFP
The US Justice Department says US Navy petty officer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to providing sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer.
Wenheng Zhao, 26, and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August on suspicion of spying for China.
Zhao pleaded guilty in a federal court in California to charges of conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and accepting a bribe, the Justice Department says in a statement. — AFP
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accuses Chinese firms of "fuelling" a drug addiction crisis in the United States, as he met with officials in Shanghai on the first leg of a visit to the country.
Schumer is the latest high-level American official to visit China as Washington seeks to ease tensions with Beijing.
He met Saturday with Chen Jining, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's chief official in Shanghai, according to a pool report, stressing the United States "does not want to decouple our economies". — AFP
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