If Elected, I Will Host Global Summit Of Democracies: Joe Biden

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said that if elected, he will convene a global summit of democracies in the first year of his presidency to counter the "rising authoritarianism" in the world and address issues of election security and human rights.

Biden accused President Donald Trump of "embracing" every autocrat in the world which he said has undermined America's credibility.

"One of the things that have hurt us so badly, is that this president has embraced every thug and every autocrat in the world, in ways that have undermined our credibility," the former vice president said during a conference call on Sunday.

"I'll energise the community of democracies to counter the rising authoritarianism we see in the world. In my first year, we're going to host a summit of the democracies to address election security, human rights, etc," Biden said.

Responding to questions on China, he said trade, human rights and security are the three main issues.

Criticising President Trump's policies toward China, he said, "Trump caved to Chinese leaders every time. He let them off the hook, started a trade war, etc."

"Trump gave them the green light to put millions of Chinese Uighurs in concentration camps," said the 77-year-old Democratic presidential candidate.

Biden campaign has termed the alleged human rights violations of Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region as "genocide" and called for an international effort to make a united stand against the "oppression" suffered by ethnic minorities at the hands of China's "authoritarian" government.

Attacking Trump for failing to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, he said, "In handling the pandemic, no country can go this alone. But everybody looks at us and says ''Where in the hell are we going?''"

During the conference call, former US National Security Advisor Susan Rice praised the former vice president's eight-year stint in the White House.

"His wisdom, his experience, his strategic acumen, his hands-on engagement were absolutely indispensable in helping us work through the toughest issues on our agenda -- from Iraq to Afghanistan to China to Russia, he gave extraordinary advice, great leadership," she said.

"You're going to be an extraordinary 46th president of the United States. You're exactly what our country and our world right now," Rice said.

Biden called Rice "just incredible," before launching into comments about what the US is facing these days. "Our country has been through so much pain," he said.

"The pandemic, recession, deep racial injustice, toxic hate and division, and a president who fans the flames... and says things that are just so, so dangerous," he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)