Biden tells UN the United States is not seeking 'new Cold War' with China

Biden says no new Cold War

President Joe Biden told the United Nations General Assembly the days of 'America first' are over.

NEW YORK - President Joe Biden used his first address before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to summon allies to move more quickly to address the festering issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses, while insisting the U.S. is not seeking "a new Cold War" with China.

The president said the halting of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan last month, ending America's longest war, set the table for his administration to shift U.S. attention to intensive diplomacy at a moment with no shortage of crises facing the globe.

"To deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world," he said.

He added: "We’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world."

UN dignitaries on COVID merit system

The United Nations General Assembly gathered together Monday for the first time after the event was canceled last year due to COVID. All attendees are on the merit system when it comes to vaccination status.

Biden offered a robust endorsement of the U.N.'s relevance and ambition at a difficult moment in history, and sought to reassure wary allies of U.S. cooperation after disagreements in recent months.

He also pledged to double U.S. financial aid to poorer countries to help them switch to cleaner energy and cope with the "merciless" effects of climate change. That would mean increasing assistance to about $11.4 billion a year. This after five months ago doubling the amount to $5.7 billion a year.

As part of the fight against climate change, rich nations for many years have promised to spend $100 billion a year in climate help, but a new study shows that they’re $20 billion a year short. Biden said his new commitment would help rich nations reach their goal.

The $100 billion goal is key because in climate negotiations there’s a dramatic rich-poor nation gap. Developing nations and others are reluctant to curb emissions further of heat-trapping gases without help from developed nations, which in the words of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, are "the guys that created the problem."

NYC & UN battle over vaccine mandates

The vaccine mandate is just one more thing world leaders are debating ahead of next week's U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York City.

But the president was facing a healthy measure of skepticism from allies during his week of high-level diplomacy. The opening months of his presidency have included a series of difficult moments with friendly nations that were expecting greater cooperation from Biden following four years of Trump's "America first" approach to foreign policy.

Eight months into his presidency, Biden has been out of sync with allies on the chaotic ending to the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He has faced differences over how to go about sharing coronavirus vaccines with the developing world and over pandemic travel restrictions. And there are questions about the best way to respond to military and economic moves by China.

Biden also finds himself in the midst of a fresh diplomatic spat with France, the United States' oldest ally, after announcing plans — along with Britain — to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The move is expected to give Australia improved capabilities to patrol the Pacific amid growing concern about the Chinese military's increasingly aggressive tactics, but it upended a French defense contract worth at least $66 billion to sell diesel-powered submarines to Australia.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday there was a "crisis of trust" with the U.S. as a result of the episode.

Before Biden’s arrival, EU Council President Charles Michel strongly criticized the Biden administration for leaving Europe "out of the game in the Indo-Pacific region" and ignoring the underlying elements of the trans-Atlantic alliance — transparency and loyalty — in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the announcement of the U.S.-U.K.-Australia alliance.

Despite such differences, Biden hoped to use his address to the General Assembly as well as a series of one-on-one and larger meetings with world leaders this week to make the case for American leadership on the world stage.

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"There are points of disagreement, including when we have disagreed with the decisions other countries are making, the decision points of when countries have disagreed with the decisions we’re making," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. "But the larger point here ... is that we are committed to those alliances, and that always requires work from every president, from every global leader."

In an interview before his meeting with Biden, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that he was concerned about the "completely dysfunctional" U.S.-China relationship and the possibility it could lead to a new Cold War.

Psaki said the administration disagreed with the assessment, adding that the U.S.-China relationship was "one not of conflict but of competition."

The secretary-general did not back off his concerns about the U.S.-China tensions as he addressed leaders at the opening of Tuesday's gathering. "It will be impossible to address dramatic economic and development challenges while the world’s two largest economies are at odds with each other," he said.

Biden sought to play down concerns about China tensions escalating into something more, saying: "We are not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs."

More broadly, he put a heavy emphasis on the need for world leaders to work together on the COVID-19 pandemic, to meet past obligations to address climate change, to head off emerging technology issues and to firm up trade rules.

"We will choose to build a better future. We, you and I, we have the will and capacity to make it better. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to waste any more time," he said. "We can do this."

Biden planned to limit his time at the United Nations due to coronavirus concerns. He was to meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison later Tuesday while in New York before shifting the rest of the week's diplomacy to virtual and Washington settings.

At a virtual COVID-19 summit Biden is hosting Wednesday, leaders will be urged to step up vaccine-sharing commitments, address oxygen shortages around the globe and deal with other critical pandemic-related issues.

The president is also scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday at the White House, and invited the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan — part of a Pacific alliance known as "the Quad" — to Washington on Friday. In addition to the gathering of Quad leaders, Biden will sit down for one-on-one meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Biden planned to limit his time at the United Nations due to coronavirus concerns. He was to meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison while in New York before shifting the rest of the week's diplomacy to virtual and Washington settings.

Along with the dignitaries in town, comes major gridlock in Manhattan's East Side and Midtown. Traffic is already overwhelming, perhaps, in part, because fewer people are using mass transit and more and more businesses and companies have brought employees back to the workplace.

Multiple closures, detours and checkpoints will be in effect from 6 am - 7 pm from 42nd St to 57th St, between 1st and 5th Avenues.

On 1st Ave, the tunnel underpass from 41st to 48th St. will only be open to passenger cars.

Trucks and other large vehicles will not have access until the end of each day’s session.

CLICK HERE FOR STREET CLOSURES AND TRAFFIC DELAYS

With the Associated Press