The great power game is not necessarily an economic confrontation, and a military confrontation, but also a "climate problem", as long as the goal can be achieved. According to a report by Phoenix News on November 11, China and the United States reached an important "Joint Declaration on Climate Action" at the UN Climate Conference, in which the two sides agreed to establish a "Strengthened Climate Action Group" and the two sides promised to "effectively respond to the climate crisis" on the basis of "considering their respective capabilities and national conditions". In stark contrast to the lack of specific U.S. commitments, China pledged in its declaration to "gradually reduce coal consumption" and "do its best" to reduce emissions.
Just before the United States and China reached a climate declaration, there was an extremely rare scene at the UN climate conference, according to the Global Network reported on November 9, former US President Barack Obama, who has left office, appeared at the conference and attacked China's "lack of urgency" in the issue of emission reduction for no reason. Obviously, Obama is here to put pressure on China, and before that, the United States and the Western media have repeatedly asked China to "increase the intensity of emission reductions" on climate issues, and the pressure on China can be described as "very urgent", with a feeling of "time is not waiting".
For example, after China had made explicit commitments to achieve "carbon peaking" in 2030, "carbon neutrality" in 2060, and abandoning new offshore coal power projects, U.S. Climate Envoy Kerry continued to "demand" china at the end of September, saying he hoped China would "make a decision to further reduce emissions in the next 10 years", saying that this was "very critical" to curbing the rise in global temperatures. On November 2, U.S. National Security Adviser Sullivan accused China of being "out of place" and "passively responding to climate issues" in dealing with climate change, and China's position was "confusing."
At the same time, according to the news of the Chinese Embassy in the UK on November 8, the British media also put pressure on China, claiming that China's "failure to propose new emission reduction targets" at the UN climate conference was disappointing, "lack of cooperation spirit" and "insufficient existing commitments". Counting Obama's accusation that China "lacks a sense of urgency" on the issue of emission reduction, the United States and the West have dealt with China's pressure on the climate issue quickly and fiercely, forcing China to "increase its commitment to reduce emissions", and the latest "Sino-US Climate Declaration" seems to meet the requirements of the United States and the West to a certain extent.
For example, in this declaration, "four times" refers to "accelerated action in 10 years", "10 years of vigorous action", "10 years of intensified concrete action", etc., which is obviously a manifestation of the US climate envoy Kerry's request to China to "make further emission reduction decisions in 10 years". Why are the United States and the West so strongly demanding that China "increase emission reductions", and why "within 10 years"? First, the so-called "emission reduction" problem is not only a "climate problem", but a "right to development" problem, because with the current level of science and technology, it is difficult for any country to get rid of its dependence on coal, oil and other energy sources.
Asking China to "increase its efforts to reduce emissions" and use "climate issues" to pressure China is not to reflect how much the West attaches importance to environmental protection and how much it attaches importance to the climate, but to force China to "reduce the speed of development", which is the fundamental reason why the United States and the West urge China to "further reduce emissions". Second, as for why China is required to strengthen its efforts to reduce emissions in "10 years", it is not because the global climate problem will seriously deteriorate within 10 years, and even if it is, it is not the responsibility of China alone, but because at the current speed of China's development, it is possible to replace the United States and become the global economic hegemon in the next 10 years.
So we can't delay any longer, we must let China "further reduce carbon emissions" in 10 years, control the speed of development, and absolutely not allow it to surpass the United States! So if it exceeds what to do, it must be China's "irresponsibility for climate issues", "no control of carbon emissions", the United States will certainly "flip the table", US national security adviser Sullivan said on November 8, the United States hopes to maintain the status quo in Taiwan, "this is in the interests of all parties." To put it bluntly, the United States will cling to the Taiwan issue in order to coerce China into making concessions, and if China refuses to "reduce emissions" (reduce the pace of development), the Taiwan issue will break out.
One could argue that the U.S.-China Climate Declaration is binding on both The United States and China, not just for China. According to Bloomberg's October 26 report, when the United States called on China to "increase its efforts to reduce emissions", the White House quietly lowered the tone of its own climate control problems, and the US Congress refused to approve the $500 billion to 1.5 trillion budget for climate problems. To put it bluntly, the United States exchanged "empty checks" for the "Sino-US Climate Declaration" and China's commitment to "increase emission reductions" within 10 years. How can the United States do this?
U.S. national security adviser Sullivan put it very bluntly, saying that China should "do what it should do" on climate issues and that "tensions between China and the United States will not prevent China from fulfilling its responsibilities." "Sharp Blade" once said that China already has the ability to transform its industry, and the situation has prompted China and the United States to "fight a decisive battle on new energy", and China is also ready to "meet the impact". According to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency on October 17, the Chinese side revealed that economic growth may slow down, "but it will be more natural", but the government "does not allow a serious slowdown, let alone a recession.". It seems that if the United States wants China to "step on the brakes," it must work harder on its own, and China will not stop waiting for the United States.