On Thursday, according to a letter seen by Reuters, the letter reads that China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and others are seeking support for a coalition to defend the United Nations Charter by pushing back the use or threat of force and unilateral sanction.
The move by 16 countries and the Palestinians to create a group came after U.S. President Joe Biden’s new administration boosted its multilateral engagement with allies by reversing former President Donald Trump’s favored unilateral approach as Trump focused on an America First policy.
Biden has pledged to take on China at the United Nations, where Beijing has been pushing for greater global influence in a challenge to traditional U.S. leadership.
A concept note for the “Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations,” seen by Reuters, states that multilateralism is currently under an unprecedented attack, which is threat to global peace and security.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Senior European diplomat responded that “these so-called friends are the one who have done most to breach the charter. They should start respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms in their own countries.
Other founding members of the group are Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria and Venezuela.
The concept note said “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.”
Washington announced plans under Trump’s government to quit the World Health Organization which was pulled out from the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, a global climate change accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
While Biden who took his office in January this year, repealed the withdrawal of the WHO and returned the United States to the climate agreement, re-engaged with the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and is seeking to re-enter to the international nuclear deal.
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