The 80th High-Level Session of the United Nations General Assembly was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from September 22 to 30, with more than 100 heads of state and government speaking during the event.

Some people say that the United Nations is the epitome of the world. In the series of activities of this session of the United Nations General Assembly, the heated debate throughout the process reflects the collision between the trend of multilateral cooperation and the countercurrent of unilateral hegemony, revealing the profound changes facing the world 80 years since the founding of the United Nations.

A ¡°Hand¡±

The most dramatic scene came when Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke in a general debate on the 26th. As soon as he took office, representatives from many member states resigned to demonstrate anger over Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip.

During his speech, Netanyahu picked up a map of the Middle East and declared that multiple "hostile forces" leaders had been or would be eliminated by the Israeli army, while using a marker to check the corresponding countries one by one. The Israeli Prime Minister's hand stained with black ink was presented to the few remaining audience at the scene.

Outside the venue, thousands of Palestinian supporters marched near the New York Times Square, waving the Palestinian flag, holding banners such as "Stop the famine in Gaza."On the same day, the Israeli military announced that it had attacked more than 140 targets in the Gaza area in 24 hours, and the Palestinian side confirmed that at least 50 people were killed in the attack.

The Gaza conflict was one of the most concerned topics during this session of the UN General Assembly. Several Western countries, including France, finally announced their recognition of the Palestinian State. Turkey and Iran¡¯s leaders held speeches at the UN General Assembly, holding pictures of Gaza children and the victims of Israeli operations, denouncing Israel¡¯s ¡°continued genocide¡± in violation of international law.

According to many experts, today¡¯s world is entering a new era of turbulence, and the conflict in Gaza reminds us that the cause of peace and development is still a long way to go. Samuel Priy, an expert at the Royal Institute for International Affairs, writes that ¡°a world filled with war and dominated by an old rigid global governance system¡± is deeply concerned.

¡°Peace remains our primary obligation,¡± said UN Secretary-General Guterres.

and a silence.

The "first show" of US President Trump's second term in the UN General Assembly was not very smooth. When he climbed the escalator before his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the escalator stopped running almost immediately, and he could only keep balance with the help of handrails and climb up the stairs. When speaking, Trump suffered another teleprompter failure.

"I get two things from the UN: a malfunctioning escalator and a malfunctioning teleprompter." During the speech, Trump complained and attacked. He accused some countries of "encouraging the conflict to continue" by recognizing the Palestinian state, criticizing European countries for buying Russian oil, questioning the role of the United Nations, and calling the climate change issue a "hoax".

Trump's speech lasted 57 minutes, setting a record for any U.S. president speaking at the UN General Assembly.

Several media outlets have noted that audience reactions to Trump¡¯s speech in the hall were very different from his first speech as U.S. President at the United Nations General Assembly in 2018. AFP said Trump¡¯s speech in 2018 caused laughter in the hall, but this year¡¯s audience was ¡°almost completely silent¡± about Trump¡¯s speech.

Trump returned to the White House, seriously shocking the world with unilateral policies such as a tariff war, and in the UN General Assembly speech also ¡°sending the greatest criticism to European allies¡±.

The American media commented that the Trump administration's policies have shaken the global trade and security order, "hollowing out the post-World War II international system established and worked hard to maintain by predecessors", and the United States has changed from a co-founder of the United Nations to a "destroyer".

A "hardcore" president

The most "hard-core" person at this session of the UN General Assembly is Colombia President Gustavo Petro.

Petro participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Dag Hammarskjöld Square outside the United Nations Headquarters on the 26th. He held a loudspeaker and shouted to the crowd: "All American military soldiers, do not point their guns at humans... obey the command of mankind!" Subsequently, the U.S. State Department revoked Petro's visa on the grounds of "inciting violence."

Not only Petro, Palestinian President Abbas can only deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly via video because the United States refused to issue a visa. Colombia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced: "Using visas as a diplomatic weapon violates the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations on 'on-site' participation, promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression regardless of national borders."

At this session of the UN General Assembly, the leaders of many Southern countries made a strong opposition to unilateral acts of hegemony and strongly called for the defense of the international system with the United Nations at the core and the safeguarding of international fairness and justice.

Petro delivered a speech at the UN General Assembly, bitterly criticizing the United States for using force to kill many people in the Caribbean and demanding that "criminal proceedings must be filed against U.S. officials." He also criticized Trump's speech for "not talking about democracy, not talking about the climate crisis, not talking about life, he just threatened and killed."

After Petro's speech, Brazilian President Lula hugged him. As the first leader to speak in the general debate of the UN General Assembly, Lula bluntly said that multilateralism is being coerced by power politics, unilateral sanctions and wanton interference. "The 21st century is becoming increasingly multipolar, and peace cannot be separated from multilateralism. The voice of the global South must be heard."

In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, a number of United Nations people said that leaders of many countries said "no" to hegemonic powers at the UN General Assembly, and the voice of the Global South became louder and louder, reflecting the strong will of countries in the Global South to correct historical injustice and safeguard fairness and justice.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General said: ¡°When the United Nations was founded 80 years ago, many colonial nations failed to gain representation.

A leading force.

During this session of the UN General Assembly, many international media noticed one detail: When some countries issued unilateral threats on the United Nations podium and denied the international community's cooperative efforts to address global challenges, China was taking practical actions and foresight to promote multilateral cooperation and safeguard fairness and justice.

At the United Nations Climate Change Summit on the 24th, China announced its 2035 nationally determined contribution covering the entire economy, including all greenhouse gases, which won warm applause inside and outside the United Nations venue.

International public opinion says that the United Nations '"China Time" demonstrates China's leadership to the world. The New York Times commented that China's climate commitment shows the world as a "big country brave enough to shoulder global responsibilities" and "establishes a pillar image of global stability and global cooperation." Just the day before, someone at the United Nations claimed that climate change was a "hoax."

At the High-Level Conference on Global Development Initiative, China was once again applauded. China announced that as a responsible developing country, it will not seek new special and differential treatment in current and future WTO negotiations. The Japan Economic News newspaper said that this declaration demonstrates China¡¯s support for multilateral free trade is in sharp contrast to some countries¡¯ protectionist behavior.

China's global governance initiative has also become a hot topic inside and outside the United Nations. During the activities of the UN General Assembly, the heated debate on conflicts, trade and global challenges highlighted the governance deficit currently faced by the world and the urgent need to reform and improve global governance, and highlighted that the proposal of global governance initiatives was "timely".

"The challenges we face are so arduous that no country can deal with them alone." Tom Fletcher, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that today's world needs leadership that can drive collective action, and global governance initiatives "are a commitment to multilateralism and help build a world where countries work together to address global challenges." (Participating reporters: Wu Xiaoling, Miao Xiaojuan, Li Rui)