U.S.-China Cooperation on Climate Can Also Compete Activists Worry Biden Ignores Human Rights Issues
U.S.-China cooperation in the climate sector has drawn a lot of attention, with climate policy expert Liddell Wang suggesting that constructive competition between the two countries would be equally beneficial to the global response to climate issues. Human rights activist Yang Jianli, on the other hand, worries that the U.S. will relax its pressure on human rights issues for the sake of the Chinese Communist Party’s climate commitments.
Climate Policy Expert: Constructive Competition Is Good for the Climate Problem
Since taking office, the Biden administration has emphasized cooperation with China in the area of climate change, and on April 22, Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping also expressed his willingness to work with countries, including the United States, at a climate summit for leaders hosted by President Biden. The two countries signed a joint statement to that effect last week.
But for some climate policy experts, “cooperation” between the U.S. and China on climate issues is a vague concept. In an interview with the Voice of America, UCLA law professor Alex Wang said he would prefer to see the two countries take the lead on domestic policy than on cooperation between them.
“If the U.S. and China show a willingness to take great action, it would be beneficial for other countries to join,” he said, “but I think the basis for those is whether the countries can achieve those goals domestically, and cooperation is not the primary level.”
The report shows that China is now the world’s largest market for renewable energy, but also the largest user of coal-based energy, and that it is currently building new coal-fired power plants, despite Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s recent statements that he would phase out coal-based energy.
Human Rights Activists: U.S. Can’t Ease Up on Pressure on Communist China on Human Rights
While climate change experts are pleased that the United States and China are willing to work together on global warming, activists concerned about human rights in China are concerned.
“Dr. Jianli Yang, founder of Citizen Power, and Aaron Rhodes, an international human rights activist, warned the Biden administration not to let up on pressure on China’s human rights situation because of the climate issue in an opinion piece published Thursday on The Hill, a U.S. political news website.
During former President Donald Trump’s administration, the United States put aside its position as a leader on global climate change while Communist Party President Xi Jinping led the Communist Party’s attempt to fill that void.
“He intends to use this to fill the soft power that the CCP has been lacking,” Yang told Voice of America, adding that the lack of soft power has been affecting China’s rise. So Xi agreed to attend the conference this time, and his intention is to share dominance with Biden.”
The Biden administration has consistently said that cooperation with the Communist Party on climate does not mean the U.S. will concede in other areas. But Yang believes Xi still wants to give commitments on climate in exchange for U.S. compromises on human rights and other issues.
“The fact that Biden wants to work with the CCP on climate issues and gives up his insistence in exchange for nothing more than a piece of paper promised by the CCP is our concern, and that’s why we wrote this article,” he said.
Yang doubts that the Chinese Communist Party is really willing to take effective action on environmental issues. He argues that the CCP currently gives no concrete measures to reduce carbon emissions and also needs sustained economic growth to maintain the legitimacy of the regime. And China’s economic growth is often based on a low human rights situation.
He suggested that the Biden administration should not address climate issues alone in its foreign policy with the CCP, but rather link climate issues to topics such as human rights and security.
“The U.S. government needs to understand that environmental issues and human rights issues are linked, and if human rights cannot be improved, I’m afraid it will be difficult to improve environmental protection,” Yang said.
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