The world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters are arguing over climate policy on Twitter, with China questioning whether the US can comply with landmark climate legislation. signed into law by President Joe Biden this week.
“You can bet the United States will follow through on our commitments,” US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns tweeted in response on Wednesday, using a national flag emoticon for “United States.” He called on China to resume suspended climate talks, writing: “We are ready.”
The blunt exchange, part of a longer exchange on Twitter, is emblematic of a broader concern: Cooperation between the United States and China is seen as vital to the success of global efforts to curb rising temperatures. With the break in relationships on Taiwan and other issues, some question whether the two sides can cooperate.
After Congress passed the climate bill last Friday, Burns took to Twitter over the weekend to say that the United States was acting on climate change with its largest investment to date, and that China should follow suit. .
On Tuesday night, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded with his own tweet: “Listening is good. But what matters is: Can the United States deliver?
what people are reading
The verbal skirmish emerged from China suspension of talks with the US on climate and various other issues earlier this month as part of their protest for a visit to taiwan by an important American legislator, the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
Climate has been one of the few areas of cooperation between the feuding countries. US officials criticized China’s move, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying it “does not punish the United States… punish the world.”
Asked to respond, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged the United States last week to “uphold its historical responsibilities and due obligations on climate change and stop looking for excuses for its inaction.” “.
#China and #USA discuss #weather on Twitter. #USPoli #ClimateGoals #ClimateAction
The ministry later tweeted part of its response, and Burns responded four days later with his tweet about the US climate bill. Using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China, he ended with: “The People’s Republic of China should follow + reconsider its suspension of climate cooperation with the US.”
China crafted its message “Can the US Deliver?” with a second tweet suggesting US actions, including the uprising sanctions imposed last year on solar industry exports from China’s Xinjiang region due to allegations of forced labor.
The Twitter battle highlights a perception gap between the long-standing superpower that wants to lead and the rising power that no longer wants to feel obligated to follow anyone else’s lead.
Former President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement: reversed by Biden after he took office last year — dealt a blow to American credibility on the issue.
A Chinese expert praised parts of the US legislation, but said it is overdue and not enough.
“Although there are some groundbreaking achievements in the bill, I am afraid that it cannot restore US leadership on climate change,” said Teng Fei, a professor at the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economics at Tsinghua University. .
US climate envoy John Kerry has been pushing China to set more ambitious climate goals. China has responded that its goals are realistic, given its development needs as a middle-income country, while the US sets ambitious goals that it falls short of achieving.
China’s ruling Communist Party generally sets conservative targets at the national level, because it doesn’t want its performance to fall short. However, those goals are sometimes exceeded in the eager pursuit of those goals by local officials.
“China should be able to do better than its national targets indicate,” said Cory Combs, a senior analyst at consultancy Trivium China. “But of course all those local plans are subject to failure and delay, so it’s impossible to know exactly what they will add up to.”
Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed.
Ken Moritsugu, Associated Press