Strained ties preventing cooperation on climate: China tells US
Sep 02, 2021
Beijing [China], September 2 : Asserting the United States should stop regarding China as an adversary, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that prolonged tensions between the two major powers make it difficult to work together in the climate field.
Wang remarks came during a meeting with US climate envoy John Kerry, who has been in China's Tianjin since Tuesday. He and Wang held talks via video link, Kyodo News reported.
China-US cooperation on climate change serves the interests of both sides and the world as well as enjoying broad development prospects, but such cooperation cannot be sustained without an improvement in bilateral relations, Wang said.
This comes as two countries have been at odds over a range of issues including Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Wang Yi said, in recent years, China-US relations have taken a sharp turn for the worse and are facing serious difficulties, according to a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
According to the Chinese ministry, Kerry said that US-China cooperation is of vital importance for responding to the pressing challenge of climate change.
The United States is willing to work with China to respect each other, enhance communication and dialogue, jointly improve ambitions, demonstrating both sides' leadership, set an example for meeting the Paris Agreement goals, and also create opportunities for addressing difficulties facing US-China relations, said Kerry.
The world's biggest coal user, China obtains roughly 60 per cent of its power from coal and is the world's biggest source of greenhouse gases.
According to the US State Department, Kerry used the meeting with Wang to call on China to do more to reduce emissions.
"Secretary Kerry affirmed that the United States remains committed to cooperating with the world to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands, and encouraged the PRC to take additional steps to reduce emissions," a spokesperson said.
