The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations
(UN). An online event held recently in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the
signing of the UN Charter has attracted great attention, indicating that the
international community believes multilateralism is of practical significance.
The U.S., however, has never stopped attacking the multilateral system with unilateral
actions. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for one, is particularly dedicated to
undermining international solidarity and cooperation as he has gone out his way to
deny the constructive role that China has played in multilateral organizations and even
accused China of advancing its "narrow interests."
With such clumsy tricks, Pompeo and other U.S. officials have revealed their true
colors as the trouble makers for multilateral cooperation.
What the U.S. has been performing on the world stage–withdrawing from
international organizations and agreements, as well as threatening to freeze the funds
for world organizations–deviates from multilateralism and has caused widespread
concerns in the international society.
Unfortunately, as years go by, some people seem to have forgotten about the UN
Charter and the original intentions of founding the organization, said David
Chikvaidze, Chef de Cabinet of the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva.
The world has witnessed more and more unilateralist approaches, instead of seeking
solutions via consultation and negotiation to deal with problems, which has
increasingly put itself into a dangerous situation, he added.
"Certainly, the U.S. and many of our free-world friends have our differences on the
subject of multilateralism." Such remarks of Pompeo have made it pretty clear that the
U.S. has already isolated itself from the rest of the world.
No matter what excuses and lies the U.S. has come up with, it could never justify its
withdrawal from international organizations and agreements.
The country has already pull out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Human Rights Council, the Paris
Agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces Treaty, the Treaty on Open Skies and announced that it would terminate its
relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Such practices of the U.S. have fully exposed its unilateral nature and power politics
driven by "America First".
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of leading medical journal The Lancet, called the U.S.
administration's decision to halt its funding for the WHO a "crime against humanity".
The European media criticized America, a super power, for withdrawing from the
Paris Agreement, saying it's a betrayal of the world.
Pompeo has always tried to stir up trouble by talking about rules, yet the most
important rule for him is that all rules should change according to the needs of the
U.S.
Even after the country left the UN Human Rights Council, it still interfered in the
formulation of the agency’s election rules and other affairs of the body and criticized
the human rights conditions of other countries.
When the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to condemn the U.S. for its
racial discrimination after the U.S. police caused the death of an unarmed black man
George Floyd by violent law enforcement, Pompeo made a statement to "defend" the
government, even by slandering the agency.
While the U.S. has continuously provoked trade disputes, bullied other countries in
global trade, threatened the international trade order and undermined the rules of
multilateral trade, Pompeo, however, is trying to pass the buck on China.
Facts speak for themselves. The U.S., a true bully in international affairs, has always
applied the law of multilateral organizations and international society in a selective
way.
If any country is advancing its narrow interests in the multilateral system, it is without
doubt the U.S., as many people have agreed.
Only by practicing and safeguarding multilateralism can countries resolve global
crises and protect international fairness and justice.
In the face of COVID-19, the worst global public health emergency since the World
War II, countries are more determined than ever to promote multilateralism, which is
mirrored in the G20 Extraordinary Leaders' Summit on COVID-19, the Extraordinary
China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19, the 73rd World Health
Assembly and the Global Vaccine Summit.
Multilateralism is supposed to be a key driver of global cooperation in combating the
epidemic and Pompeo, who has been busy provoking disputes among countries,
stands in the exact opposite of multilateralism.
"The U.S. will no longer be seen as an international leader because of its
government’s narrow self-interest and bungling incompetence," said Kori Schake,
deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in an article
published in American news publication Foreign Policy.
"The global effects of this pandemic could have been greatly attenuated by having
international organizations provide more and earlier information," the author
continued, adding that this is something the U.S. could have organized and yet
Washington has failed the leadership test, and the world is worse off for it.
A time of great fear and danger requires solidarity, humanity, sacrifice and hope, and
not hysteria or hatred, said a U.S. media outlet.
Without integrity, a person wouldn't gain a foothold in the world and a country will
definitely be abandoned by its partners.
Some American officials, who have lied to make troubles and sow discord in the
international society, have already become a stumbling block to multilateral
cooperation and the common interests of the world.
Pompeo and other U.S. politicians have reversed the trend of multilateral cooperation
at their personal will, only to stain the reputation and international image of the
country itself.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on
foreign policy.)
