China insists it is taking ‘real action’ to tackle climate change after Joe Biden criticises Xi Jinping’s no-show at COP26 summit
- Foreign Minister Wang Yi insisted the country is a ‘serious and responsible’ participant in efforts to tackle the problem in call with Spanish counterpart
- Beijing and Washington have been indulging in a blame game after US President said it had been a ‘big mistake’ for Xi to miss the talks in Glasgow
“I think it’s been a big mistake, quite frankly, for China – with respect to China not showing up,” Biden told a press conference.
Leaders’ climate change position clear but what do Chinese people think?
“They’ve lost an ability to influence people around the world and all the people here at COP – the same way, I would argue, with regard to Russia,” he said.
He said China has not only announced goals to reach peak emissions and carbon neutrality, but has introduced a series of policies to ensure it hits those targets, according to a readout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the past decade, China has eliminated 120 million kilowatts of coal power capacity — more than the total installed capacity of Great Britain, he added.
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Biden 'disappointed’ with China, Russia over failing to commit to G20 climate change plans
Xi has not left China since the first Covid-19 outbreak almost two years ago. Instead, he gave a brief written statement to the COP26 conference on Monday, in which he called for cooperation to be stepped up and for a focus on concrete actions.
Biden’s criticism immediately drew fire from the Chinese side, as China’s ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun accused the US of conveying “empty slogans” and constantly changing its policies.
“China has been earnestly supporting #ClimateAction. We are not the one who withdrew from the #ParisAgreement,” Zhang tweeted on Wednesday.
“The US however has back-pedalled its climate policies many times. Instead of blame shifting, what it should do now is to shoulder responsibility and take concrete actions.”
A week before COP26 began, China issued plans for several industrial sectors to reach peak emissions by 2030, including steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials and petrochemicals.
Biden ‘disappointed’ by Xi absence as G20 leaders make few new climate vows
During Friday’s meeting, Wang described Spain as an important player in the European Union, and insisted that China and Europe are partners – rather than competitors – and shared much more in common than divides them.
