As China and the United States feuded at the United Nations this week over COVID-19 and climate, one of the world's smallest states pleaded for detente.
NEW YORK - As China and the United States feuded at the United Nations this week over COVID-19 and climate, one of the world’s smallest states pleaded for detente.
Micronesia - with a population of about 113,000 - and its Pacific Island neighbors have long been stuck in a diplomatic tug-of-war between the world’s biggest economic powers as China takes on U.S. influence in a region Washington has considered its backyard since World War Two. The U.S.-Chinese showdown is now playing out at the 193-member United Nations, where Beijing has pushed for greater multilateral influence in a challenge to traditional U.S. leadership. Tensions between the two superpowers have hit boiling point at the world body over the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
“A lot of the U.N.’s members think the U.S. is destructive and China is power-hungry. They don’t find either very appealing,” he said. “Ambitious Europeans like Macron see a chance to fill the leadership gap, so they are willing to challenge Beijing and Washington.”Macron addressed the General Assembly on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that China be held accountable for having “unleashed” COVID-19 on the world, prompting Beijing to accuse him of “lies” and abusing the U.N.
In the Pacific, China has been forging stronger economic ties with small island nations, and drawing countries out of their long-term alliances with Taiwan, winning over Kiribati and the Solomon Islands in the past year.
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