Experts on China say the Biden administration should not allow the Chinese Communist Party to use climate change as a bargaining chip to demand U.S. concessions in other areas.
The warning comes as the United States formally rejoins the Paris Agreement on Feb. 19. President Joe Biden has described climate change as an “existential threat” and vowed to do more to reduce carbon emissions. However, analysts worry that this could lead to the U.S. becoming closer to the Chinese Communist Party.
While Biden officials have generally said they will continue the Trump administration’s tough stance on the Communist Party, they have also pointed to a “cooperative” side to the U.S.-China relationship.
During the campaign, Biden said he would work with Chinese authorities on areas of mutual concern, such as climate change and preventing nuclear proliferation.
Experts fear that U.S. cooperation on climate change could lead the Biden Administration to concede other key areas, such as human rights, trade and national security.
Beijing authorities have made it clear that the U.S. must accept its own terms before the two sides can cooperate.
“China is willing to work with the U.S. side and the international community to cooperate on the issue of climate change.” Chinese Communist Party Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Jan. 28.
“At the same Time, I would also like to emphasize that U.S.-China cooperation in specific areas… is necessarily related to the overall U.S.-China relationship,” Zhao said, adding that the Communist regime has repeatedly stressed that “no party should expect reckless interference in China’s (CCP) internal affairs and harm to China’s (CCP) interests on the one hand, and to demand China’s understanding and support in bilateral and global affairs.”
The CCP has labeled its crackdown on minority groups in Xinjiang and Tibet, its suppression of freedom in Hong Kong, and its intimidation of Taiwan as part of China’s core interests, and does not allow outside parties to intervene.
Zhao’s comments came after President Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, promised that important issues, including the Chinese Communist Party’s theft of intellectual property and military aggression in the South China Sea, “will never be traded for any climate-related issues.
But Kerry added, “Climate is a critical stand-alone issue.” He noted that China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for about 30 percent.
“So we urgently need to find a way to take the climate issue on its own and move forward.” He said.
Gordon Chang, author of “China’s Impending Collapse,” recently told The Epoch Times that the U.S. has no chance of cooperating with Beijing given the conditions it has set forth.
“China’s (Communist Party of China) position is that if you don’t have good relations with us on everything, you don’t want to cooperate.” Zhang Jiadun said.
“If that is the choice we are faced with, we should refuse to cooperate with it. Because China (the Chinese Communist Party) is trying to limit those areas where we can have constructive discussions.”
In any case, the United States does not need to offer anything to get the Chinese Communist Party authorities to act on climate issues, noted Gordon Chang.
“The Chinese are on the same planet as we are,” he said, “so they [the CCP] have a shared interest in preventing climate change, and we don’t need to give them anything for that.”
Clyde Prestowitz, author of The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership, argues that the Chinese and the Communists have a common interest in preventing climate change. Prestowitz, author of The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership, argues that any negotiations with the Chinese Communist Party on climate change are a waste of time.
“Negotiating with China [the Chinese Communist Party] is not going to lead to any agreement that we can accept,” said Prestowitz, who was a trade negotiator in the Reagan administration.
“You can’t expect China (the Chinese Communist Party) to keep its word.” He added.
Matt Pottinger, a former Trump national security official, similarly warned against falling into the “negotiating trap” set by Beijing. He said successive U.S. administrations have wasted much time in formal dialogue with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) without achieving concrete results, allowing the regime to continue to take actions that hurt the United States, such as stealing intellectual property.
In order to reduce carbon emissions, Gordon Chang suggested that the U.S. stop sourcing from China and bring manufacturing back to the U.S., since shipping is a heavy polluter.
“This approach would be very helpful to the climate, and of course beyond that, there are some very critical ripple benefits for us.” He said.
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