In his speech,China's President Xi Jinping called for a global response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In his speech,China's President Xi Jinping called for a global response to the coronavirus pandemic.Credit:Bloomberg

Trump also attacked China's record on the environment,but levelled no direct criticism at Beijing over human rights.

Loading

A frequent critic of the United Nations,he said that if it was to be effective,it must focus on"the real problems of the world"like"terrorism,the oppression of women,forced labour,drug trafficking,human and sex trafficking,religious persecution,and the ethnic cleansing of religious minorities."

Earlier,UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world was"moving in a very dangerous direction"with US-China tensions.

"We must do everything to avoid a new Cold War,"he told the assembly."Our world cannot afford a future where the two largest economies split the globe in a Great Fracture – each with its own trade and financial rules and internet and artificial intelligence capacities.

"A technological and economic divide risks inevitably turning into a geostrategic and military divide. We must avoid this at all costs."

Trump Biden 2020

Our weekly newsletter will deliver expert analysis of the race to the White House from our US correspondent Matthew Knott. Sign up forThe Sydney MorningHerald's newsletterhere,The Age'shere,Brisbane Times'here andWAtoday'shere.

Reuters

Most Viewed in World

Loading