CHINA/DRUGS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “One man will dominate proceedings at the United Nations General Assembly this week: Donald Trump. But the man who has become, in more ways than ever, the most important man in U.N. politics—Chinese President Xi Jinping—won’t be there. While Trump is set to spend three days lecturing other leaders on issues from Iran to the drugs trade, and most will defer to him to avoid embarrassment, America’s predominance at the U.N. is weakening—and China is filling the gap. Diplomats in New York see two major political trends reshaping the organization. The first is the U.S. systematically and loudly distancing itself from U.N. bodies and initiatives it doesn’t like. The second is the focus with which China is gaining power and influence in Turtle Bay. America’s voluble president may own the podium at the General Assembly, but quietly, in the windowless committee rooms of the U.N., Chinese diplomats are busy reshaping the ground rules of international cooperation to Beijing’s liking. The Trump administration’s disdain for the U.N. is well chronicled. Even before the president made his first appearance at the General Assembly last year, he had announced America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement, an important milestone for many of the U.N.’s member states.”
–Richard Gowan, “China Fills a Trump-Sized Vacuum at the U.N.,” Politico, September 24, 2018