Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi addresses the “Summit of the Future” in the General Assembly hall at United Nations headquarters in New York City, Sept. 23, 2024. This year’s United Nations General Assembly meeting, which opened Tuesday, takes place against a backdrop of intense competition between the United States and China, mounting geopolitical and security challenges, and pressing issues such as climate change and digital security. What Beijing brings to the conversation and says will be watched closely. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, will address the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday and is participating as a “special representative” of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Wang did not attend the U.N. meetings last year but is already using the opportunity to step up China’s diplomatic engagement. As of Tuesday afternoon, Wang has already met individually with foreign ministers from Japan, Lebanon and Venezuela and spoken at the “Summit of the Future,” a high-level meeting on addressing the challenges facing the 21st century. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Liu Jian, said Beijing is hosting a series of events on the sidelines of this year’s meetings. Wang will attend events to promote Beijing’s Global Development Initiative — a Chinese Communist Party multilateral initiative to support 2030 sustainability goals – and “enhance international cooperation on AI.” Balancing existing international organizations and China-led and created groupings, Wang will meet with other foreign ministers, attending a meeting for G20 foreign ministers and those who are members of BRICS — a political and economic grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and a growing number of countries. Some key China issues to watch at this year’s meeting: Taiwan: Taiwan says it should be included within the U.N. framework and has accused China of misinterpreting U.N. Resolution 2758 in 1971 to keep […]