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Roundup: World leaders address global concerns at UN General Assembly

Xinhua, September 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

World leaders on Monday shared their views on global concerns such as climate change, sustainability goals and terrorism at the opening of the General Debate in the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.

Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Barack Obama of the United States spoke within the first three hours of the opening.

This was Xi's first appearance at the United Nations as Chinese president. He renewed China's vows to continue participating in building world peace, promoting global development and upholding the international order.

He said China will join the new UN peacekeeping capability readiness system, take the lead to set up a permanent peacekeeping police squad, and build an 8,000-strong standby peacekeeping force.

China will establish a 10-year, 1-billion-U.S.-dollar China-UN peace and development fund to "support the UN's work, advance multilateral cooperation and contribute more to world peace and development," he added.

Xi also said China is to provide a total of 100 million dollars in free military aid to the African Union in the next five years to support the establishment of the African Standby Force and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis.

The move is in line with China's long-standing support for Africa.

"We firmly support increasing the representation and say of developing countries, especially African countries, in the international governance system," said Xi.

Obama and Putin each assigned a significant amount of time on the Syrian crisis and the global efforts to curb terrorism.

"Realism dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting (in Syria) and ultimately stamp out the ISIL (Islamic State in the Levant)," Obama said.

He called for "a managed transition" away from Bashar Al-Assad to a new leader in what appears to be a softening of the U.S. president's long-held stance that Assad had to go before any assistance is given to the Syrian government.

"In the global Muslim community of 1.7 billion good men and women -- one quarter of humanity -- today's outlaw gangs are nothing but a drop in the ocean," Jordan's King Abdullah II said between Obama and Putin.

"But a drop of venom can poison a well. We must protect the purity of our faith from worldly contamination. As Muslims, this is our fight, and our duty," he said.

Putin also voiced concern about the radical Islamic State militant group.

"The situation is more than dangerous," he said. "In these circumstances it is hypocritical and irresponsible to make loud declarations about the threat of international terrorism while turning a blind eye to the channels of financing and supporting terrorists, including the proceeds of drug trafficking and illicit trade in oil and arms."

"We think that it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face," Putin said. Endi