Why Xi Jinping skipped the UN after his Trump summit
China touts multilateralism and growing soft power even as Beijing gives greater weight to its relationship with Washington
Han Zheng, China’s vice-president, called on “major countries” to respect the sovereignty and security of Middle Eastern nations and bring about a two-state solution for the “Palestinian question” on Saturday at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in an implicit dig at the US and Israel.
“Many months ago, Chinese officials said that Xi wouldn’t go to the UN unless it was to mark a major anniversary,” said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. “Seems like a missed opportunity.”
Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has addressed the annual General Assembly gathering once in person, in 2015 for the 70th anniversary. He appeared by video in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic but missed the 80th anniversary last year when Premier Li Qiang spoke. In other years, China has generally been represented by other senior officials, including Han and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
