China is clear winner after Trump pullout

Launceston, (Australia) June 2: It’s not hard to imagine Chinese President Xi Jinping having a wry smile at both the decision by Donald Trump to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord and the global reaction.

Now, it does confirm that world leadership on efforts to limit global climate change will now shift to Asia, and China in particular.

Xi is now free to accept the mantle of global leadership on climate action, which will give him an opportunity to advance China’s interests across the world. The best part for Xi is that this hasn’t cost anything. Trump has done the damage to the US all by himself, and is most likely unaware or uncaring of the likely consequences, which go well beyond the blow to the image of the United States as a global leader.

It’s been a good past few weeks for Xi given the successful hosting of a regional summit in Beijing to promote the “belt and road” initiative that ended on May 15 with pledges by China to spend as much as $800 billion on projects aimed at boosting trade and development across Asia, Africa and into Europe.

China, the world’s largest polluter, was also quick to state that it remained committed to the 2015 Paris agreement.

“China will stand by its responsibilities on climate change,” Premier Li Keqiang told reporters on Thursday after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and before flying on to Brussels for meetings with European Union officials that will include how to keep the Paris agreement going without US participation.

While China has moved quickly to step into the leadership role, it’s likely that Xi will be looking formore than just increased prestige and prominence in international affairs.