What is the urgent visit of the US climate envoy to Huawei like? Kerry | Envoy | Climate

US President Biden recently announced that his special envoy on climate issues, John Kerry, will soon travel to China. Previously, Kerry stated that he had been invited to visit China "in the near future", but the specific date has not yet been determined.

Biden also mentioned climate change at a recent event, stating that he expects Kerry to soon travel to China to discuss issues such as reducing carbon emissions.

This is not the first time that news has spread that Kerry wants to visit China. Previously, he repeatedly urged climate cooperation between China and the United States. As early as May 4th, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to this rumor at a regular press conference that day, saying, "China's position on climate change has always been consistent. Regarding the specific visit you mentioned, it is recommended to inquire with China's regulatory authorities."

Why is the United States eager to "befriend" China on climate issues?

Why does the US appear so "hasty" when Kerry keeps making calls to come to China?

As early as August last year, the then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Pelosi, disregarded China's strong opposition and insisted on "visiting Taiwan". China immediately announced eight countermeasures, including a suspension of China US gas talks, as a response.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin, responded at the time that China had suspended bilateral climate change talks between China and the United States, and all consequences arising from this must be borne by the United States. He also expressed the hope that the US side will objectively and rationally view China US relations, remove the "stumbling blocks" on the path of China US cooperation on climate change, and promote more achievements in coordinated cooperation between the two sides in areas such as climate change based on the principles of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit.

In the following months, Kerry repeatedly expressed his willingness to resume climate negotiations with China, but it was not until January this year that China agreed to hold online talks with the United States.

According to the official WeChat account of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, on January 11th, China's special envoy on climate change, Xie Zhenhua, held a video meeting with the US President's special envoy on climate issues, Kerry. The two sides exchanged views on implementing the consensus of the China US First Bali Meeting and cooperating to promote global climate multilateral processes. Both sides agreed to further maintain communication and jointly address the challenges of climate change in the future.

However, since the beginning of this year, American politicians have created many farces, all of which have intensified the tense relationship between China and the United States.

Currently, China US relations are facing enormous challenges. But Kerry claimed that Biden still believes that the climate negotiations between China and the United States should be independent.

Has the US government done anything on climate issues in recent years?

On the issue of climate, the world is questioning whether the United States is ready to take action, but counting some of the actions of the US government in addressing climate change policies over the years can only be described as "unpredictable".

Let's first take a look at a series of practices in the United States:

In 1992, at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, then US President George H.W. Bush signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but the convention did not set a timetable or specific action goals.

In 1997, the Third Conference of the Parties to the Convention was held in Kyoto, Japan, and the Kyoto Protocol reached at the conference set different emission reduction targets for different countries. But the Republican controlled Senate in the United States ignored that the Clinton administration had already signed the Kyoto Protocol and never ratified it. However, after George W. Bush took over as president, the United States quickly announced its withdrawal from the group.

And in subsequent US administrations, similar plotlines continued to reverse and unfold.

In 2009, then US President Obama promised in Denmark that "the United States is ready to take action.". However, there was no substantial agreement on the world climate in Copenhagen that year.

In 2015, at the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris, France, countries were invited to submit voluntary emission reduction targets, but after Trump took office, he still announced that the United States would not fulfill its commitments.

In 2021, at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Biden made his debut on the international climate change stage, declaring that the United States had "returned to the negotiating table" and apologizing for the previous government's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. But apart from apologizing, Biden is empty handed.

In 2022, Biden attended the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but during his keynote speech, boos were heard everywhere.

It is not difficult to see that there have been significant differences in climate policy between the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States for many years. Some scholars have also stated that "the United States' climate policy has shown a clear 'pendulum like' change. During the Democratic government, the United States had a relatively positive attitude and action towards emissions reduction, while during the Republican era, it showed a negative or even boycotted attitude."

As the largest greenhouse gas emitter in history, the United States achieved industrialization early on and accumulated huge wealth at the cost of emitting a large amount of carbon dioxide, becoming the world's number one power.

Unfortunately, the United States' long-standing policy of constantly changing has seriously hindered the global response to climate change. At present, it is uncertain whether the news of Kerry's visit to China will come true, but it is hoped that as a vested interest, the United States should take corresponding responsibility for addressing climate change and not play with public commitments.