Holding the United States responsible for the present halt in climate talks, China accused Washington of punishing the world and the developing countries. This came in the backdrop of the recent statements made by US special climate envoy John Kerry after he termed China’s decision to suspend climate talks as “disappointing”.
In regard to this, China’s special envoy for climate change, Xie Zhenhua in an interview with the China Daily stated that China despite suspending climate talks with the United States has always been a proactive contributor to the global climate process by persistently supporting other developing countries in dealing with the issue. He further claimed that the US is fully responsible for the current situation in China-US climate cooperation.
China’s #climatechange envoy: China hasn’t punished the world & developing countries. Instead, the US has. The US repudiated the Kyoto Protocol, withdrew from the Paris Agreement, and has yet to honor the pledge for climate action in developing countries. https://t.co/299Tid5U2m pic.twitter.com/dtStIWM5SQ — Qin Gang 秦刚 (@AmbQinGang) August 13, 2022
Recalling that there was outstanding climate cooperation between both the countries with remarkable results, Zhenhua added that Pelosi’s visit infringed on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, forcing Beijing to suspend the climate talks.
He also said that both US and China issued two joint statements on coping with the global crisis of climate change and were about to enter the implementation phase, however, the devlopments were disrupted due to the US official’s visit to Taiwan.
China hasn’t punished the world and developing countries. Instead, the US has, Xie stressed.
Notably, after China decided to suspend climate talks with the US as a response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, John Kerry criticised the move calling it very “disappointing”.
“Suspending cooperation doesn’t punish the United States－it punishes the world, particularly the developing world,” Kerry said.
Chinese refers to climate treaties with the US
Referring to a few treaties regarding climate talk, Zhenhua mentioned the Kyoto Protocol stating that the first major global agreement on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions which was signed in 1997 was repudiated by the US in 2001. Also, the country withdrew from the Paris Agreement in 2020, he added.
Xie stated US is historically responsible for more emissions than any other country, while adding that the US imposed sanctions on some Chinese photovoltaic enterprises over the so-called “forced labor” issue in Xinjiang/ The step not only undermined the cooperative atmosphere between China and the US but also hindered renewable energy development around the world, the Chinese official said.
After making such statements against the US, the envoy also asserted that China has always been a major contributor to the global climate process and made active efforts to implement international treaties on climate change.
Image: AP