Addressing humanity’s major challenges will be “impossible” without cooperation from the US and China, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Macron emphasised the importance of reducing violence in order for countries to collaborate on important challenges.
“For me, the top priority of the global agenda is attempting to resolve existing crises, combating inequality and poverty, and addressing climate change and biodiversity… “I would add to this the development of a common AI regulation,” he stated.
These are “the key challenges of the coming decades, particularly this decade,” the French president continued.
“To deliver on this agenda, we need cooperation, particularly cooperation between China and the United States.” “It is impossible to build a global agenda and solve these problems unless China and the United States reach an agreement on all of these issues,” Macron said.
He stated that the Paris Climate Agreement was signed in 2015 “because President Xi [Jinping] and President [Barack] Obama found an agreement a few months before.”
“I believe that for the critical elements that will increase divisions, conflictuality, and tensions between China and the United States, we should try to moderate them, to find a way to… decrease tensions,” French President Emmanuel Macron argued.
Last week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited China after a protracted delay in an attempt to defuse tensions over American backing for Taiwan, the Chinese balloon incident in February, and other matters.
Blinken claimed that during his trip, he made “progress” towards re-establishing US relations with China. He also stated that Washington would “responsibly manage” tensions and ensure that its rivalry with China “does not veer into conflict.”
Some of that progress, however, appears to have been undone by US President Joe Biden, who labelled his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a “dictator” just a day after Blinken’s return from Beijing.
