16 countries forming coalition at UN against unilateral force, sanctions

A group of 16 countries, including Iran, Russia and China, are reportedly pushing to create a coalition at the United Nations to counter the use or threat of force and unilateral sanctions by the West.

The coalition, known as “Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations,” also includes Syria, Palestine, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba as member states.

Other founding members of the group are Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, Eritrea, Laos, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Viewed by Reuters, a concept note for the group described as “unprecedented” attacks against multilateralism and said the imposition of coercive measures and withdrawal from global agreements were signs of growing unilateralism.

US trying to take world back to 'jungle age': China

China has lambasted American officials as habitual liars and said the US was trying to take the world back to the “jungle age” after Washington accused Beijing of subjecting women of ethnic minorities to forced abortion.

“Multilateralism is currently under an unprecedented attack, which, in turn, threatens global peace and security,” said the concept note for the group.

“The world is seeing a growing resort to unilateralism, marked by isolationist and arbitrary actions, including the imposition of unilateral coercive measures or the withdrawal from landmark agreements and multilateral institutions, as well as by attempts to undermine critical efforts to tackle common and global challenges,” it added.

The founding members of the group have been under harsh and illegal sanctions by the former US administration in Washington, with Iran over its peaceful nuclear program, China over alleged technology theft and Russia over the 2014 integration of Crimea.

The United States under Trump was taken to task for “weaponizing” its influence over international trade through the imposition of hefty tariffs on China, and the hostile measure still continues to harm Beijing in the new US administration. 

China strongly opposes US tariff hikes, saying they are harmful not only to China and the US, but to the whole world. Washington, for its part, says a primary goal of the aggressive tariff strategy is to decrease the trade imbalance with China, which totaled $379 billion in 2018. 

Moreover, the European Union seems to follow in Washington’s footsteps and levy restrictive measures against Russia and China or threaten to do so. 

In the latest move, EU foreign ministers agreed to back a French-German proposal to impose sanctions on several Russian military intelligence officials over the case of Russia’s opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

Russia: US under Trump created havoc in world politics

The Kremlin spokesman says the United States under outgoing President Donald Trump created exceptional havoc in world politics and violated all possible rules.

Former US President Donald Trump was internationally criticized for his unilateral and isolationist approaches after his administration announced plans to quit the World Health Organization, pulled out of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN cultural agency UNESCO, the Paris climate accord and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has pledged to reverse Washington’s previous course but has yet to fully deliver.

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