China- US Ping- Pong diplomacy returns?
▶ Uncertainty looms if US lacks sincerity in cooperation in climate change
China and the US are committed to working together on the issue of climate change, and will cooperate on multilateral fronts including the Paris Agreement, according to a joint statement issued on Sunday between the two sides following US climate envoy John Kerry’s visit to Shanghai, which is welcomed as a long- expected China- US interaction amid strained ties.
Despite speculation among some observers who pin hopes on climate cooperation to break the ice and drag bilateral ties back on track just as Ping- Pong diplomacy did half a century ago, many others remain cautious, warning the US may lack sincerity in actual cooperation and use the move as part of its strategy to return to power in the international community and push other countries to share more responsibility on the issue.
They believed that the analogy to Ping- Pong diplomacy is overstated as the cooperation is limited to climate change and the US is still unfriendly toward China on many other issues.
“China and the United States are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” said the joint statement released by the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
The two sides pledged to strengthen their efforts and tackle the challenges to realize the principles outlined in the Paris Agreement to control the global average temperature rise below 2C, and strive to limit it to 1.5C.
The joint statement sends positive signals that highlight the two countries’ sense of responsibility to shoulder the interests of the international community, and suggests the Biden administration’s attitude shift from a decoupling strategy under the Trump administration to a “competing yet open to cooperation” stance, Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Yuan Zheng, deputy director and senior fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, added that the joint statement following Kerry’s visit “shows the US’ willingness to engage in talks with China, as it can only advance its scheme on global governance if the two sides, as the largest two carbon emitters in the world, work together on this issue.”
As some speculate whether the long- expected China- US interaction may break the ice and drag bilateral relations back on track like Ping- Pong diplomacy did, Chinese observers said that although it indicates there may be room for collaboration in other fields, the US still lacks the sincerity and respect to treat China on equal terms.
Some analysts warned of the US’ aggressive diplomatic policy aimed to selfishly protect the US’ interests in recent years no matter under the Trump or Biden administrations.
Some analysts warned of the US’ aggressive diplomatic policy aimed to protect the US’ interests in recent years no matter under Trump or Biden administrations.
China and the US issued a joint statement on Sunday after the two countries’ special envoys for climate change held talks from Thursday to Friday in Shanghai, which emphasized strengthening cooperation to tackle the climate crisis. Both countries are looking forward to the US- hosted Leaders Summit on Climate on April 22- 23. They share the summit’s goal of raising global climate ambitions on mitigation, adaptation, and support on the road to COP 26 ( 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties) in Glasgow which begins on November 1.
Kerry is the first senior official of the Biden administration to visit China. Judging from the statement, it is fair to say that China and the US have communicated quite effectively and achieved some results. However, global opinion has been cautious in assessing the outcome.
Again, the general environment among the big powers is not good, thus dampening people’s optimism. At about the same time as Kerry’s visit to China, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visited the US, and the joint statement of the US and Japan struck an unfriendly tone toward China. Also recently, the US expelled 10 Russian diplomats on Thursday, and Russia announced Friday it would expel 10 US diplomats in retaliation. The US wants to show leadership by working with China and Russia to address the climate challenge, while it is also obstructing China and Russia in other spheres. That is not what normal relations between great powers should be like.
The UN climate action involves the fundamental interests of humanity and the specific arrangement for reducing emissions concerning all countries’ major development interests. Developed countries are particularly concerned about the issue. In addition to the urgent challenge of climate change, it is also because these countries have completed industrialization, therefore climate change is now one of their priorities.
However, developing countries are still in the process of industrialization and some have just started this process. People’s living standards are still low in these countries, and it is particularly important to create more resources to improve people’s livelihoods through further industrialization. Their right to subsistence is different from that of developed countries.
The previous US administration flatly withdrew from the Paris Agreement and the current administration has come back. US’ interests have been behind both decisions. A tough stance is the biggest feature of US foreign policy in recent years. Will Washington use national strength as a lever to force other countries take more obligations while it is seeking more interests? Countries should be vigilant against this.
The US elites have disputes on many issues but they have the same fascination with US hegemony. The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was intended to expand the room for the US’ economic growth in a crude manner.
By returning to the agreement, the current US administration is trying to play the role of a leader and thus squeeze developing countries’ room for growth to achieve the same goals as the previous administration wanted to. It is worth observing whether this is the case.
In particular, though China and the US are both the largest emitters, the two countries have huge differences in population and economic development, but the US wants China to take more responsibilities in reducing emissions. It is also worth observing the relations between such pressure from the US and the US’ geopolitical move to pressure China.
At any event, China has earnestly practiced the Paris Agreement and announced before the United Nations General Assembly last year that China would strive to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. As a developing country with strong technology to reduce emissions, China has been at the forefront of promoting the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. China is also totally sincere on the desire to cooperate with the US.
Nonetheless, the deterioration of the international environment is self- evident, with the US’ strategic plot to contain China being overt.
China needs to firmly advance the Paris Agreement and prevent the US from using its “leadership” to damage the balance of interests of China, as well as find a balance between its coordination with the US, France, Germany and the European Union and with developing countries. We should promote that the common interests of humanity are jointly defined by the interests of peoples from all countries, rather than by a handful of countries that want to monopolize this definition.