China’s No. 2 leader, in debut of sorts on world stage at UN, echoes his nation’s concern about US

NEW YORK (AP) — China’s second-in-command sounded his nation’s oft-repeated alarm against aggressive and unilateral action in global politics, addressing world leaders Thursday in a speech brimming with references that echoed long-standing concerns about the United States and the Trump administration in particular — and cast Beijing as a defender of the world order in an era of encroaching chaos.

Li Qiang’s remarks also reflected his own continuing rise to prominence after being elevated to premier more than two years ago.

Li made no major announcements and offered no specific policy revelations in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, as has typically been the practice of China in that forum in recent years. But his comments, in sweep and assertive tone, revealed several things — including what might be seen as his official debut on the world stage since his promotion 2½ years ago.

“Unilateralism and Cold War mentality are resurfacing,” Li said. “History keeps reminding us that when might dictates right, the world risks division and regression. Should the era of the law of the jungle return and the weak be left as prey to the strong, human society would face even more bloodshed and brutality.”

China and the United States, the two biggest forces in the global economy, are looking to get relations back on track after a spate of fissures that include the fate of the Chinese-founded TikTok and the prospect of harsh tariffs that Donald Trump’s White House slapped on Beijing and other governments earlier this year but have been paused. Trump and Xi are tentatively scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the APEC regional economic summit in South Korea, which convenes late next month.

Li, 66, is considered the second-highest figure in the Chinese government behind paramount leader Xi Jinping, who is the president and general secretary of the Communist Party and has, at least until recently, promoted a personality cult around him. While Xi himself has addressed the General Assembly in the past — notably via video during the pandemic — top diplomat Wang Yi has been the go-to figure for U.N. addresses in recent years.

A different kind of speech

Li’s remarks contrasted with a speech he made earlier this year in a different kind of limelight — the domestic one — at the start of China’s National People’s Congress. Those remarks were dry and financially focused, as is the premier’s general practice at that forum.

Not at this one. His speech cast China as a defender of the world order and was filled with flourishes and imagery inflected with Chinese culture. “The tide of history surges forward and the great way remains smooth and steadfast,” he said at one point. He also paused for a romantic, notably personal reflection about his observations as a first-time featured speaker at the United Nations — what he saw when he arrived and how he perceived it.

“Arriving at the U.N. headquarters this time, I saw over 190 national flags lined up in front of the building and fluttering in the breeze. I saw the sculptures that have beat swords into plowshares and non-violence with their time-tested message ever so loud. And I saw staff members from different regions, of different races, and with different skin colors working in collaboration for the common goals of humanity,” he said.

“What I saw got me thinking: Those people, objects, and scenes that embody peace, progress, and development are exactly why we choose to commemorate victory. They’re also what inspires us to forge ahead, hand in hand.”

China’s policies do not always reflect this. From its repression of the Muslim Uyghur minority in its far-west Xinjiang region to its treatment of dissidents in Hong Kong, the Beijing government has been far less peaceable — internally, in particular — than its rhetoric suggests.

Li emphasizes multilateralism with pointed remarks

The aging Xi’s decision to let the UN spotlight shine on Li, who often oversees the nation’s economy, is notable. Unlike his predecessor, who was sidelined by Xi, Li is a loyalist. China, which vigorously emphasizes multilateralism, consensus and cooperation in most of its foreign policy statements, has long looked to the United Nations as a counterbalance to what it perceives as U.S. domination and arrogance.

China’s continuing and vehement insistence on respect for other nations’ sovereignty is not only a publicly stated cornerstone of its foreign policy but a foundational ethos for the government of a nation that has traditionally struggled to maintain control at its edges — from Xinjiang and Tibet in the far west to Hong Kong and Taiwan off its east coast.

Multilateralism is always a foundational theme at the United Nations — no surprise for a world body specifically designed to promote such a notion. China, though, tends to use multilateralism as a means to its own ends — as a counterbalance to “hegemonists,” for decades its favored synonym for the United States. Even as it rises as a world power, China emphasizes multilateralism regularly but often acts to the contrary in areas of dispute and disagreement.

This is particularly true as his country tries to navigate Trump’s approach to tariffs. “A major cause of the current global economic doldrums is the rise in unilateral and protectionist measures such as tariff hikes and erection of walls and barriers,” Li said.

Like that comment, Li’s speech Friday was replete with remarks that were nothing groundbreaking for his government but held particular resonance when viewed through the prism of U.S.-China relations. That applies particularly to the second Trump administration, which has emphasized its “America First” ethos even more than during Trump’s first term.

— “Persisting in camp-based confrontation or willful resort to force only drives peace further away.”

— “Obsession with so-called civilizational superiority or ideology-based circles only breeds more division and confrontation.”

— “Solidarity lifts everyone up while division drags all down.”

— “How could we, when confronted with unscrupulous acts of hegemonism and bullying, remain silent and submissive for fear of might?”

Noteworthy, though, were two words that didn’t appear anywhere in Li’s speech: “United States.” Which is a small act of diplomacy in itself.

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Ted Anthony oversaw China coverage from 2002 to 2004 as AP’s news editor in Beijing and from 2014 to 2018 as its director of Asia-Pacific news.