US climate envoy John Kerry ends China trip with little to show
- Beijing remains tight-lipped about chances of Xi Jinping joining Joe Biden’s climate summit next week
- Former secretary of state was first senior figure from new administration to visit China and strained relations may hinder efforts to fight climate change
John Kerry wrapped up his visit to Shanghai on Saturday after spending the past two days in closed-door talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhu as the US sought China’s cooperation ahead of the US President’s climate summit next week.
The former secretary of state is the first senior figure in the Biden administration to visit China and the trip has been seen by many as a rare opportunity for the world’s top two carbon emitters to demonstrate they could still work together despite their escalating rivalry.
But neither side appeared to be keen to promote the closely watched trip with no public statement so far giving details of the visit or what has been discussed or achieved.
With the two sides at loggerheads over a range of issues, including Xinjiang and Hong Kong, Beijing has remained tight-lipped about whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Earth Day virtual summit.
Instead of unveiling fresh initiatives to tackle global warming or addressing concerns over how it plans to deliver on the climate commitments Xi made last year, China has upped the ante by calling on the US to shoulder more responsibility.