China appeared to accept U.S. climate envoy John Kerry’s proposition that climate change be treated as a standalone issue in relations, nearly three months after dismissing the possibility. But will the words of a new joint statement translate into action?
Is Beijing willing to treat climate change as a “standalone issue” in relations with the U.S., as climate envoy John Kerry has advocated? We may soon find out, after Biden sent Kerry to Shanghai and an unofficial delegation to Taiwan at the same time.
After Japan announced its intention to discharge built-up wastewater from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, China was joined by South Korea and Taiwan in protest. The U.S. and the International Atomic Energy Agency said the plan met safety standards.
After the Trump administration beefed up U.S.-Taiwan ties, the Biden administration has continued to more actively embrace Taiwan. Some figures in foreign policy are calling for unambiguous support for Taiwan, but others say that a significant change from “strategic ambiguity" could trigger a Chinese invasion.
The U.S. and China continue to express mutual distrust or even disdain on many issues today, but tackling climate change could be an area of healthy competition, or even policy coordination.
After the WHO released a report that raised more questions than answers about the origins of COVID-19, Beijing pushed back against accusations that it had interfered in the inquiry. The Chinese Foreign Ministry then suggested that the Fort Detrick biological lab in the U.S. should be investigated next.
The Chinese and Russian foreign ministers condemned Western nations for “politicizing human rights issues” with sanctions. Beijing separately lashed out at “the West,” accusing at least half a dozen nations of hypocrisy and saying they had no right to lecture China.
Today, the European Union issued its first sanctions on China since 1989, condemning Beijing’s abuse of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Canada, Britain, and the U.S. also issued new Xinjiang-focused sanctions. Beijing immediately retaliated against the EU with sanctions of its own.
In a high-level meeting in Alaska, top U.S. officials confronted China about breaking international rules, saying Beijing was making the world “far more violent and unstable.” China shot back by accusing the U.S. of hypocrisy on a range of issues, including human rights.