John Kerry, the special climate envoy for the United States, finished his trip to Beijing on Wednesday with the reported admission that no agreement was made with China on future efforts to cut carbon pollution.
China is the world’s single greatest producer of greenhouse gases.
‘More Time’
Politico reports Kerry said there was going to be a little bit more work to break precedent in negotiations between the world’s two top producers of greenhouse gases, with more discussions regarding further talks ahead.
In fairness to China, ANY John Kerry visit is useless. So, yeah, there's that. https://t.co/eWBH6FnwCy
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 17, 2023
The outlet went on to report that Kerry stated the two nations committed to continue meeting and talking about climate issues. This is a minor step in the Biden administration’s attempts to rebuild relations with Xi Jinping’s government.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Vice President Han Zheng was cited as telling Secretary of State John Kerry that dealing with climate change was a crucial component of China-U.S. cooperation, but it is contingent on mutual respect.
Per reports from the Associated Press (AP), he stated it must move forward on the basis of U.S. commitment to core concerns affecting both parties, actively participating and exchanging ideas.
John Kerry said the “biggest thing” he’s doing in his “lifestyle” to combat climate change “is traveling around the world, trying to do diplomacy” on climate. https://t.co/YJvPAe2q5S
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 28, 2021
During his trip to China this week, John Kerry conveyed to Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, that the government of President Biden is “very committed” to restoring relations between the world’s two largest economies, as they seek to restore high-level meetings.
Lowest Points
According to the AP, relations between the two nations have reached their lowest point in history under the administration of Joe Biden.
This is due to disagreements over tariffs, access to technological advances, human rights, Chinese claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea, and threats against Taiwan’s ability to govern itself.
Following in the footsteps of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, John Kerry is the most senior member of the Biden administration to visit China.
No top-ranking Chinese officials have been to the U.S. ever since the late 2019 spread of the coronavirus global epidemic first started in China.
