WASHINGTON (SBG) — From the impacts of climate change touching every corner of the earth to a lagging vaccination rate worldwide to a global economy inextricably linked, the list is long and compelling, for leading countries to find common ground where they can.
In a Sept. 19 interview with United Nations News, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of the direction of the world.
"We need to change course and we need to wake up," he said.
He provided details in an interview with the Associated Press, warning of what he calls a “completely dysfunctional” relationship between the United States and China.
“We need to avoid at all cost a Cold War that would be different from the past one, and probably more dangerous and more difficult to manage," he said.
That relationship over the last few years has been dealing with a lot, from clashes over coronavirus and how it actually started, to recent revelations China is hoping to develop a military presence in Afghanistan, to tariff tensions and Chinese hacking. Many experts say there is plenty of cause for concern.
At the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, President Joe Biden tried to calm some of that concern.
"We’re not seeking, let me say it again. We're not seeking a new Cold War," he said.
But there’s no doubt tensions are thickening between the two countries.
The central reason for the recent security deal between the U.S., the U.K. and Australia is to stand up to China, which Biden has called one of the top national security threats.
Many critics of the Chinese Communist Party say leaders are more emboldened now than anytime in recent history
“The Biden administration should understand is that China’s challenge to the united states is comprehensive, it’s malicious, that China intends to overthrow our government," said Gordon Chang, a China expert who wrote "The Coming Collapse of China."
While that sentiment is not shared by all, what is impossible to ignore is China’s actions pushing back on democracy in its own country as well as in Hong Kong and Tibet, as well as its vast expansion in the South China Sea and its treatment of its Uighur Muslims.
These concerns are creating a conundrum of how to work with a government behind all that, though U.S. leaders say it is possible.
In a speech Thursday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke about the U.S.-China relationship.
“While we seek a constructive results oriented relationship with the PRC, we will remain clear-eyed and our view of Beijing's efforts to undermine the established international order," Austin said.
On the world stage, there are new questions emerging on how to walk the tightrope between competition and conflict.