US climate envoy John Kerry to meet Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua

News of the talks comes after the two superpowers clashed at their first high-level in-person summit of the Biden-era in Alaska last week

The discussions may take place amid escalating tensions over sanctions by the US and its allies on Chinese officials over Xinjiang

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US climate envoy John Kerry speaks during a press conference in Paris on March 11. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:51am, 23 Mar 2021Updated: 2:51am, 23 Mar 2021

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will meet his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Sullivan, speaking in an interview on MSNBC, did not give an exact date for the US-China meeting on climate issues.

But the two will be speaking on Tuesday at a ministerial meeting on climate action hosted by the EU, Canada and China.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s special representative for Climate Change Affairs, speaks during a press conference in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

The meeting will come after top Chinese and US diplomats held their first meeting of Joe Biden’s presidency last Thursday and Friday in Alaska and publicly rebuked each other’s policies.

Tensions between the two superpowers rose further on Monday as the US, EU, UK and Canada banded together to sanction Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang

The Chinese delegation said after the Alaska summit that the two sides were “committed to enhancing communication and cooperation in the field of climate change,” Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, and would set up a joint working group on climate change.

A State Department official said in a e-mailed statement on Sunday that while the world’s two biggest greenhouse emitters will engage on climate change, they “did not form a formal working group”.