- China reiterates commitment to international cooperation on climate change and will honor the promises it has made
- China refutes U.S. claim that the suspension of climate talks “punishing the whole world
- Washington can’t speak for world
- US must stop finding excuses for its inaction on climate change
China remains committed to international cooperation on climate change and honors the promises it has made, the top Chinese envoy in Washington said on 9 August 2022 in New York, as he refuted the U.S. claim that the suspension of climate talks with it is “punishing the whole world”.
“We will stay committed to meet our goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, take an active part in international cooperation on climate change, provide support and help for other developing countries as best as we can, and make our due contribution to global response to climate change.”
Ambassador Qin Gang
Following the visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi to Taiwan on August 2, China decided to halt climate change talks with the United States, an action that was among the eight countermeasures announced by China in response to the provocative move that has infringed on its core interests.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken said of the ceasing of climate talks: “That’s not punishing the United States; that’s punishing the entire, the entire world and especially the developing world.”
But China’s Ambassador to the U.S., Qin Gang said in an address to the 4th U.S.-China Business Forum in New York that “the U.S. cannot represent the whole world”.
He said China-U.S. cooperation in various areas cannot do without the general atmosphere of the bilateral relations.
“We will stay committed to meet our goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, take an active part in international cooperation on climate change, provide support and help for other developing countries as best as we can, and make our due contribution to global response to climate change,” Qin said at the event.
China has vowed to peak greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
“China always takes the promises it makes very seriously, and does everything possible to honor them,” he said. “It is hoped that the U.S. should earnestly fulfill its historical responsibility and obligation on climate change.”
The ambassador noted that the U.S. has used the lie of “forced labor” in Xinjiang in Northwest China to sanction and suppress Chinese photovoltaic enterprises in the solar energy field, in a move that has caused direct damage to China-U.S. climate cooperation and forced many Chinese workers, including Uygurs, to become jobless.
In his speech, Qin reiterated that the Taiwan question is the most important and most sensitive issue at the very heart of China-U.S. relations.
The ambassador also noted that the most pressing challenge to China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is whether the bilateral relations can maintain stability, given that the China-U.S. relationship is at a crossroads.”Using strategic competition to define our ties, taking China as the primary competitor and most serious long-term challenge — such misperception and misjudgment will only raise the tension and lead our relations to the track of confrontation and conflict, and put even more pressure on our economic and trade cooperation,” he said.
China: US must stop finding excuses for its inaction on climate change
On August 11, 2022 China called on the US to earnestly deliver on its historical responsibilities and due obligations on climate change and stop looking around for excuses for its inaction, .
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing in Beijing in response to remarks by US Secretary of State Blinken and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Kerry that China’s decision to suspend US-China climate change talks was punishing the world and not the United States.
Wang reiterated that the measure taken by China was part of the country’s legitimate and reasonable countermeasures against Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. China has repeatedly stressed to the US that the one-China principle is the political foundation on which China develops bilateral relations with other countries, yet Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan despite China’s strong opposition
“China had made those points perfectly clear long beforehand. We said it and we mean it. The US has no reason to feel surprised,” the spokesperson said. “Due to the egregious impact of Pelosi’s visit to China’s Taiwan region, China has suspended its climate talks with the US. All consequences arising therefrom shall be borne by the US.”
Pelosi’s visit took place “with the US government’s connivance and support” and undermined the political foundation of the China-US relations and inevitably caused major disruption to exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, Wang said.
“China is a country committed to real action, not just words on global climate governance,” Wang said. “As a responsible major country China will continue to actively participate in international and multilateral cooperation on climate change.”
The US Supreme Court limited the US Environmental Protection Agency’s powers to curb greenhouse gas emissions and the U.S. has been sanctioning and suppressing China’s solar companies citing the so-called Xinjiang-related issues as a pretext, which has dealt a direct blow to the atmosphere of our cooperation and the climate response of China and other countries, he said.
“These self-contradictory moves make the world question the US’s capability and seriousness on addressing climate change.”
Sources:
ECNS, 2022-08-10. http://www.ecns.cn/m/news/politics/2022-08-10/detail-ihcazrmu4812940.shtml
People’s Daily, August 11, 2022. http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0811/c90000-10134163.html
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