LIVE UPDATES: United Nations General Assembly 2021

Talking about the 2016 Arbitral Award at the 76th United Nations General Assembly, President Rodrigo Duterte says the country is “one with ASEAN and other stakeholders in ensuring that the South China Sea remains a sea of peace, security and prosperity.”

‘PRODUCT OF AN ERA LONG PAST’

In his last United Nations General Assembly address, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte comes out swinging against the United Nations, calling the body “inadequate” and saying it should not be interfering with his brutal drug war.

In the past, Duterte has cursed the United Nations, called it useless, and even threatened violence against rapporteurs.

Read this story from our archives.

Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the need for countries to strengthen solidarity and promote mutual respect.

“We need to advocate peace development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom, which are the common values of humanity,” says Xi.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Tuesday, September 21, that China would not build new coal-fired power projects abroad, using his address at the United Nations General Assembly to add to the country’s pledges to combat climate change.

Xi provided no details, but depending on how the policy is implemented, the move could significantly limit the financing of coal plants in the developing world.

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The United States plans to donate an additional 500 million COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE to nations around the world, lifting the total the country is sharing to more than 1 billion doses, according to a source familiar with the plans.

President Joe Biden is hosting a virtual summit on COVID-19 on Wednesday, September 22, and is likely to announce the new pledge then.

Earlier on Tuesday, September 21, Biden told United Nations General Assembly that the United States had put more than $15 billion toward the global response to COVID-19 in order to fund more than 160 million COVID-19 vaccines in other countries.

The US had already purchased 500,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and donated them through the global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX.

Vaccines had already landed in 100 countries, Biden said, adding he would announce additional commitments on Wednesday at a US-hosted global COVID-19 summit.

The United States is pushing global leaders to endorse its targets for ending the COVID-19 pandemic, including ensuring 70% of the world’s population is vaccinated by the 2022, according to a draft US document viewed by Reuters.

The Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the United Nations in New York this week and nominated their Doha-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan’s UN ambassador, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday, September 21.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made the request in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, September 20, Muttaqi asked to speak during the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly, which finishes on Monday.

Guterres’ spokesperson, Farhan Haq, confirmed Muttaqi’s letter. The move sets up a showdown with Ghulam Isaczai, the UN ambassador in New York representing Afghanistan’s government ousted last month by the Taliban.

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping reiterated on Tuesday, September 21, that China aims to provide 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world by the end of the year.

Xi made the pledge in a video address to the United Nations General Assembly in which he stressed China’s peaceful intentions in international relations, saying that China would never invade or bully others, or seek hegemony.

Xi spoke after US President Joe Biden mapped out a new era of vigorous competition without a new Cold War despite China’s ascendance during his first United Nations address on Tuesday