CaliToday (27/9/2025): In his debut on the world stage, China's second-most-powerful leader sounded his nation's familiar alarm about aggressive and unilateral actions in global politics, delivering a speech on Friday laden with allusions that echoed long-standing concerns about the United States and the Trump administration in particular.
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| China Premier Li Qiang addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) |
The remarks by Premier Li Qiang also marked his own continued emergence after being promoted to the premiership more than two years ago. In a sweeping and assertive address, he cast Beijing as a guardian of world order in an age of spreading chaos.
While Li made no major announcements or policy revelations, a common practice for China at the United Nations in recent years, his comments were nonetheless revealing.
"Unilateralism and Cold War thinking are re-emerging," Li told the UN General Assembly. "History has always reminded us that when might decides right, the world is in danger of division and retrogression. If the law of the jungle returns and the weak are left prey to the strong, human society will suffer more bloodshed and brutality."
The address comes as the United States and China, the two largest forces in the global economy, attempt to put their relationship back on track after a series of fractures. Tensions remain high over issues ranging from the fate of Chinese-founded TikTok to the prospect of harsh tariffs that Donald Trump's White House imposed earlier this year before they were paused. Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the sidelines of the APEC regional economic summit in South Korea late next month.
A New Messenger on the World Stage
Li, 66, is considered the second-highest figure in the Chinese government after paramount leader Xi Jinping. Unlike his predecessor, who was largely sidelined by Xi, Li is a staunch loyalist. The decision by the aging Xi to cede the UN spotlight to Li, who typically oversees the nation's economy, is notable. While Xi himself has addressed the Assembly in the past notably by video during the pandemic top diplomat Wang Yi has more recently been the go-to figure for UN speeches.
The speech was a stark departure from Li’s other high-profile address earlier this year at the opening of China's National People's Congress. Those remarks were dry and fiscally focused, as is the premier's custom at that domestic forum.
This was not. His speech was filled with grand, culturally Chinese imagery, positioning his country as a protector of the world order. "The tide of history rolls on, and the great path is level and firm," he said at one point. He also offered a personal, almost romanticized reflection on his first time speaking at the UN.
“Coming to the U.N. headquarters this time, I saw more than 190 national flags lined up before the building and flying in the wind. I saw the sculptures of swords beaten into plowshares and non-violence with their time-tested and powerful message. And I saw staff members from various regions, of various races and colors working together for the common goals of humanity,” he said. “What I saw made me think: These people, objects and scenes that represent peace, progress and development are why we choose to celebrate victory. They are also our inspiration to move forward together.”
Multilateralism as a Counterweight
China, which stresses multilateralism, consensus, and cooperation in most of its foreign policy pronouncements, has long seen the United Nations as a counterweight to what it considers American dominance and hubris. China tends to wield multilateralism as a means to an end as a bulwark against "hegemons," its preferred synonym for the United States for decades.
This was particularly evident as he took aim at the Trump administration's approach to trade. "A primary cause of the current global economic sluggishness is the rise of unilateral and protectionist measures such as jacking up tariffs and erecting walls and barriers," Li said.
Like that remark, his speech was filled with assertions that, while not groundbreaking for his government, were particularly potent when viewed through the prism of the U.S.-China relationship especially with a second Trump administration that has emphasized its "America First" philosophy even more than the first. The critiques were clear:
"To persist with bloc confrontation or willfully resort to force only makes peace more elusive."
"An obsession with so-called civilizational superiority or ideology-based groupings only brings more division and confrontation."
"Unity lifts everyone up while division drags everyone down."
"How can we, in the face of unscrupulous hegemonic and bullying acts, stay silent and submissive for fear of might?"
Notably, however, two words were absent from Li’s speech: “United States.” In itself, that was a small act of diplomacy a way to deliver a sharp critique without naming the target, ensuring the message was received without formally escalating the confrontation.
