China and America talk of co-operating on climate. It will be hard
Asking China to show leadership cuts two ways
FOR THE first decades of global wrangling about climate change, China’s foot-dragging caused alarm. Its self-interested approach to climate action—once summarised by a Beijing-based diplomat as seeking “maximum credit for the minimum effort”—frustrated governments that were ready to enact costly measures. Worse, China’s blame-shifting ways gave cover to politicians clinging to climate denial and inaction in America and elsewhere.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Working together, but in parallel”
From the February 13th 2021 edition
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