US, China set landmark climate change goals
November 12, 2014, 5:02 am

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) holds a welcoming ceremony for U.S. President Barack Obama at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 12, 2014 [Xinhua]

China has agreed on target for emissions of greenhouse gases to peak by “around 2030 or earlier if possible”, the US White House said on Wednesday morning. Obama has also unveiled new US targets of reduction- 26 per cent to 28 per cent by 2025, compared with 2005 levels.

This is the first time China has agreed to peak its CO₂ emissions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also agreed “to increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to around 20 percent by 2030” said a White House statement.

UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon lauded the announcements by Obama and Xi “as an important contribution to the new climate agreement to be reached in Paris next year”, said a UN statement.

US and China also announced on Wednesday that the mandate of the US-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) has been extended for an additional five years from 2016-2020.

Before Wednesday’s talks, Xi held a red-carpet ceremony to welcome Obama, who arrived in Beijing Monday to attend the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting and pay a state visit to China at Xi’s invitation.

On Tuesday evening, the two heads of state held a meeting already at the Zhongnanhai leadership building in central Beijing after the APEC meeting.

Xi and Obama also reached consensus on resuming negotiations on updating the World Trade Organization’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) by including more products, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.

“The two sides will work with other participants of the ITA to put an end to the negotiations as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.

This US-China deal on on eliminating duties on information technology products like medical equipment, GPS devices, video games consoles and next-generation semiconductors would eliminate tariffs on about $1 trillion worth of global sales on IT products, US Trade Representative Michael Froman said.

At the beginning of the meet on Wednesday morning, Obama conceded to “important differences that we have”, but told Xi “I’ve been very encouraged by your willingness, Mr. President, to engage in a constructive dialogue”.

At a joint press conference Obama said he told the Chinese President in a bilateral meeting that US had “no involvement” in fostering protests in Hong Kong. China’s Communist Party said weeks ago it aims to prevent “external forces” intervening in Hong Kong and Macau.

China and the US are locked in competition over trade and over military and diplomatic influence in the region.

China and US have also been jockeying for economic influence in Africa in recent years as the region shows strong GDP growth.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been embroiled by the recent escalating violence in the Middle East, tried hard in August to reassure that the United States is still committed to its rebalance to Asia policy first launched by President Barack Obama in 2009.

Meanwhile, China has repeatedly accused the US of trying to profit from the historical maritime territorial disputes between China and some of its neighbors.

Earlier this year, China has also said, contrary to US allegations, Beijing is a major target of unscrupulous US cyber-spying, calling for an immediate halt to it.

“As a superpower, the United States takes advantage of its political, economic, military and technological hegemony to unscrupulously monitor other countries, including its allies. he United States’ spying operations have gone far beyond the legal rationale of ‘anti-terrorism’ and have exposed its ugly face of pursuing self-interest in complete disregard of moral integrity,” said a report by China’s Internet Media Research Centre in May this year.

In yet another episode last month that threatens to undo efforts aimed at finding common ground to tackle hacking, the Chinese Foreign Ministry told the US to stop “fabricating stories” and “mudslinging” about alleged Chinese commercial spying. A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) official has accused China of stealing secrets from US firms.

During a TV appearance on CBS, FBI director James Comey said that China topped the list of countries seeking to steal secrets from US firms, costing American businesses billions of dollars every year.

TBP