Trump pitched his vision of a global order —
at odds with the United Nations Charter
By Abby Maxman
Abby Maxman is president &
CEO of Oxfam America
NEW YORK, Sep 23 2020
(IPS) – President Trump took
the UN stage to settle scores
and shift blame as he sought
to spin an alternate version of
his administration’s response
to the pandemic.
He condemned the ‘one-sided’
Paris Agreement as the US
battles devastating wildfires,
bragged about promoting peace
while federal agents attack
protestors in US streets, touted
women’s rights while slashing
longstanding US support for
women’s health programs, and
extolled his COVID-19 response
as the US surpasses a death toll
of 200,000.
President Trump also pitched
his vision of a global order
driven by narrow, competing
national interests – one at odds
with the UN Charter agreed 75
years ago to pick up the pieces
from the Second World War.
The UN was founded to
remind us that no matter our
differences, we’re all on the
same side when it comes to
global problems like COVID-19
and the climate crisis. When
humanity is faced with challenges
that ignore national
borders, there are no one-sided
deals.
As this global pandemic has
only reinforced, America can
only be great – and safe – when
we work with others to solve
the problems facing humanity.
An effective COVID-19 response
must be founded on scientific
evidence, cooperation, and
meeting the needs of the most
vulnerable in society.
But President Trump prioritizes
the health of the markets
over people and political spin
instead of scientific information,
deferring to the wealthiest
1% instead of the rest of us.
His lack of leadership has cost
American lives and delays the
much-needed recovery.
While a safe and effective
vaccine can be a way out of
this nightmare, and researchers
funded by the US government
are racing to find it, making
sure vaccines are available
and affordable to everyone is
equally important. COVID-19
anywhere is COVID-19 everywhere.
The Trump administration
claims to have great pride for
its leadership at the UN and as
an agent of peace and human
rights around the globe, while
simultaneously undermining
some of its most vital tenets
and goals.
Indeed, the world listens
closely, but what they have
heard from the Trump administration
Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
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has undermined
our role as a leader and albeit
flawed, proponent of peace
in the world. Peace stems not
from strength but from mutual
respect and a shared commitment
to rules that benefit everyone.
Solutions to the poverty,
inequality, and injustice so
many are experiencing both
here in the United States and
around the world can only be
found by working together for
shared progress, not by turning
inward or trying to make gains
at the expense of families and
communities elsewhere.
We will prosper together, or
suffer apart.
Meanwhile, Trump in his
address said: It is my profound
honor to address the United
Nations General Assembly. 75
years after the end of World
War Two and the founding of
the United Nations, we are once
again engaged in a great global
struggle.
We have waged a fierce battle
against the invisible enemy
— the China Virus — which
has claimed countless lives in
188 countries. In the United
States, we launched the most
aggressive mobilization since
the Second World War.
We rapidly produced a record
supply of ventilators — creating
a surplus that allowed us
to share them with friends and
partners all around the globe.
We pioneered life-saving treatments,
reducing our fatality
rate 85 percent since April.
Thanks to our efforts, 3 vaccines
are in the final stage of
clinical trials. We are mass producing
them in advance so they
can be delivered immediately
upon arrival. We will distribute
a vaccine, we will defeat the
virus, we will end the pandemic,
and we will enter a new era
of unprecedented prosperity,
cooperation and peace.
As we pursue this bright
future, we must hold accountable
the nation which unleashed
this plague onto the world:
China.
In the earliest days of the
virus, China locked down travel
domestically while allowing
flights to leave China and infect
the world. China condemned
my travel ban on their country,
even as they cancelled domestic
flights and locked citizens in
their homes.
The Chinese government,
and the World Health Organization
— which is virtually
controlled by China — falsely
declared that there was no
evidence of human-to-human
transmission. Later, they falsely
said people without symptoms
would not spread the disease.
The United Nations must
hold China accountable for
their actions. In addition, every
year China dumps millions and
millions of tons of plastic and
trash into the oceans, overfishes
other countries’ waters,
destroys vast swaths of coral
reef, and emits more toxic mercury
into the atmosphere than
any country anywhere in the
world.
China’s carbon emissions are
nearly twice what the U.S. has,
and it’s rising fast. By contrast,
after I withdrew from the onesided
Paris Climate Accord, last
year America reduced its carbon
emissions by more than
any country in the agreement.
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 75th annual U.N. General Assembly, which
is being held mostly virtually due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the
Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., Sept. 22, 2020. United Nations /
Handout via REUTERS
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