He’s the man for the job. Former Secretary of State, John Kerry enjoys a rather cordial and uninterrupted relationship with China. The American envoy for the climate is therefore currently in Beijing for his third visit since taking office in 2021. His mission is to renew the dialogue between the United States and China, at least on the climate issue, one of the areas where the two fiercely competing powers can cooperate.
John Kerry therefore met his counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Beijing on Monday. The two men had a meeting in the morning that lasted four hours, state television CCTV reported. No details were immediately released on the content of the conversation. On Sunday, when John Kerry arrived in Beijing, the CCTV channel indicated that “China and the United States would have an in-depth exchange” on climate issues.
All Responsible
John Kerry will call on China “not to hide behind the assertion that it is a developing country”, to diminish its commitment against climate change, indicated Sunday on CNN the national security adviser to the American president, Jake Sullivan. “Every country, including China, has a responsibility to reduce its emissions,” he said.
“I think the world should encourage China even more, even pressure it, to take much more drastic measures to reduce its emissions,” he added. The world’s second largest economy “still has work to do in this area” and “John Kerry will emphasize this point when he travels to Beijing”.