The Global Times published an English-language article on January 28, linking China’s cooperation in the climate field to human rights issues and condemning the West for continuing to point fingers at China’s human rights issues while demanding Chinese cooperation. The Global Times’ aforementioned remarks sparked mocking criticism and ridicule from some netizens on Twitter. @ProsperityJushi explains China’s internal affairs with this chart
Following the announcement by new U.S. President Joe Biden that a climate summit will be held in the United States this April, and repeated calls by Secretary of State John Blinken and Climate Commissioner John Kerry for Beijing to cooperate internationally in the climate field, the official Chinese Communist Party Global Times published an English-language article on Thursday linking China’s cooperation in the climate field to human rights issues, condemning the West for continuing to point fingers at China’s human rights issues while demanding Chinese cooperation. The Global Times’ comments sparked strong reactions from Western netizens, with criticism and mockery from tweeters posted under the Global Times’ Twitter account.
The Global Times article quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian as responding to the U.S. desire to cooperate with China on climate issues at a press conference on Thursday, saying that cooperation between the U.S. and China in specific areas is not a “flower in a hothouse” and is inevitably related to the overall U.S.-China relationship. China has repeatedly stressed that no party should expect to interfere in China’s internal affairs and harm China’s interests while demanding China’s understanding and support in bilateral and global affairs.
The Global Times article also cited comments by Chinese netizens criticizing the United States for using double standards, stressing that China’s population is four times larger than that of the United States, and criticizing the United States for trying to contain China’s development with its climate.
The Global Times report sparked a backlash from Twitter users, with some tweeters posting images of the new crown virus and Xi Jinping with comments on China’s domestic affairs. Others commented that Beijing was finally coming clean and admitting it didn’t care about climate change. Some tweeters also pointed out that climate change and air pollution also have a direct impact on Chinese people, and that China is not reducing emissions for other countries. Antoine Bondaz, a China expert at the French Foundation for Strategic Studies, commented, reminding that China accounts for 30% of global carbon emissions, that it consumes more than half of the world’s coal, that more than a million Chinese die every year from air pollution, and that the average Life expectancy of Chinese people is reduced by 1 or 2 years. China’s threat to link the climate issue to China’s human rights issues and demand that the West stop criticizing human rights in China would be another big win-win measure for Beijing. However, he argues that the West should not accept Beijing’s game, because tackling climate change is equally beneficial to China itself.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry repeatedly said Wednesday that the United States wants to work with China on climate change. Kerry also said that there are many serious differences between the United States and China, and that issues related to intellectual property rights, market access and the South China Sea are unrelated to climate issues.
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