John Kerry, the Biden-appointed climate envoy.
The Biden Administration has framed U.S.-China relations as “competition and cooperation” and has repeatedly stated that there is “room for cooperation” with the Beijing government on climate issues. Recently, Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, told Reuters that the Chinese Communist Party had just appointed a climate envoy and that the two envoys would meet “soon.
France-Presse reported that the dialogue between the two climate envoys could be an “entry point for U.S.-China cooperation.
According to Reuters, Kerry said on Thursday (4) that he received news on Wednesday that Beijing had appointed Xie Zhenhua as its climate envoy. Kerry told Reuters, “We haven’t spoken yet, and this will be in due course. Soon, I can be sure.”
Xie is the former deputy director of the Communist Party’s National Development and Reform Commission and special representative for climate change. He was given the new title of “climate envoy” by the Chinese Communist Party, which corresponds to Kerry’s position. Biden appointed Kerry as his climate envoy upon taking office to demonstrate the importance he attaches to climate issues.
In the interview, Kerry said he had worked with Xie for about 20 years and knew him well. Kerry also called Xie a “leader” and a “strong advocate” for China on global climate issues.
Kerry stressed that U.S.-China cooperation on climate issues would not be used in exchange for other issues such as human rights and trade. But Kerry would not say whether the United States would join the European Union and Canada in pressuring the Chinese Communist Party to reduce carbon emissions.
On the day of Kerry’s interview, Biden had just given his first foreign policy speech, claiming that the U.S.-China relationship has both competition and cooperation.
Under Trump‘s administration, the Chinese Communist Party has been characterized as a “Cold War adversary,” and the U.S. government and the public have a clearer understanding of the Chinese threat. Biden has not had any kind of public interaction with Beijing since taking office, but he has not made any tougher moves against Beijing either, and has tended to backtrack on some issues compared to the Trump Administration. Some Republican lawmakers are concerned that the Biden administration will return to its policy of appeasement toward the Chinese Communist Party.
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