Could US climate envoy John Kerry be ‘channel for communications’ with China?

Name: ‘Climate time bomb ticking’: UN chief says carbon emissions must be urgently cut
Uploaded: 2023-05-04T15:00:10.000Z
Duration: 1 min 40 s
Description: ‘Climate time bomb ticking’: UN chief says carbon emissions must be urgently cut

Kerry reportedly said he was invited to visit in the ‘near term’ for climate talks but the timing has yet to be decided

It could be a way to ‘gauge the possibilities for further engagement’ on issues of mutual concern, analyst says

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US climate envoy John Kerry reportedly spoke with China’s representative at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin this week and held virtual talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua “a week or two ago”. Photo: Reuters

Dewey Simin Singapore

Published: 11:00pm, 4 May 2023Updated: 11:35pm, 4 May 2023

If US climate envoy John Kerry visits China it will be the highest-level exchange between the two powers since the Chinese balloon episode, and analysts say it could be a tentative first step towards a thaw in ties.

Kerry – who was secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 – told Reuters on Wednesday that Beijing had invited him to visit in the “near term” for climate talks. He said US President Joe Biden had authorised the meeting but the timing of the trip had yet to be determined.

China last year suspended cooperation and talks with the US in areas including climate and security in response to then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to self-ruled Taiwan in August.

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‘Climate time bomb ticking’: UN chief says carbon emissions must be urgently cut

Climate talks resumed in January, when Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua held a virtual meeting.

But the relationship was again tested when the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February. China has maintained that it was not a government spy vessel but a weather-monitoring balloon that was thrown off course.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a visit to China following the incident, but on Wednesday said he hoped to make the trip this year, stressing the need to “re-establish regular lines of communication at all levels and across the government”.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said last month that she still hoped to visit China “at the appropriate time”.