The president of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Tijjani Muhammad-Bande in a message to China changed the phrase of the resolution to be adopted by the UN on its 75th anniversary.
The modified resolution will be adopted in September and not the one that has been a key part of Chinese foreign policy and backed by the Chinese Communist Party.
This decision came after six countries India, US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand objected to the use of the phrase "to build a community with a shared future for mankind", which has been discussed by China President Xi Jinping many times as his vision for the world.
Xi has raised the concept and the phrase on many occasions including his UNGA speech at the 70th session of the body, and his famous speech at World Economic Forum at Davos in January 2017. Several European countries were not very happy with the use of the phase. Reports stated UN member, "It's a much broader concern shared by many".
Another UN source explained, "UNGA President proposing an alternate sentence vindicates our stance".
The proposed wording by UNGA President "for the common future of present and coming generations" was given approval for the resolution via silence procedure with China not objecting to it. Any objection by China could have led to a deadlock, and perhaps a controversy even as UN marks 75th year of existence, something that could have gone against Bejing.
What is interesting is China had put the phase under "silence" procedure and not at the negotiation stage which many UN members believe is not by chance. Under the silence procedure, the proposal is deemed to be passed, if no one "breaks the silence" by raising a concern. China had not taken kindly to the "silence" being broken and backed by Pakistan, Syria and Russia had shot up a letter to UN.
While China has been trying to put the same language in the UN documents, it has been put to vote and there might be stray instances it might have been able to do so. The resolution which has been put on UN Website calls for reforms and lists out 12 commitments with COVID pandemic reminding "us in the most powerful way that we are only as strong as our weakest link".
