China Names Negotiator for Climate Change Talks
Date: 05-Sep-07
Country: CHINA
Former ambassador to Tanzania Yu Qingtai will represent his
country in complex negotiations over how the world will address
global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other gases from
farms, factories and vehicles.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said "special
representative" Yu's experience in Africa, the United Nations
and international talks would help him present the nation's
case.
"He has rich experience in bilateral and multilateral
work," Jiang told a regular news briefing. "The Chinese
government takes seriously and actively participates in
international efforts to respond to climate change."
More than any other country, China faces tough demands in
forthcoming negotiations on how the world will cope with global
warming and what will succeed the current Kyoto Protocol, which
governs signatory states' greenhouse gas responsibilities.
At an Asia-Pacific summit this week in Sydney, Chinese
President Hu Jintao will discuss climate change options with
other leaders, including US President George W. Bush.
Kyoto's first phase runs out in 2012 and governments want
to launch talks at a UN gathering in Bali, Indonesia, in
December to work out a replacement for the Protocol by 2009.
China is coming under increasing international pressure
about its carbon dioxide emissions, expected to overtake US
emissions by 2008. But its leaders have rejected caps on output
for fear they will cramp growth.
Beijing says developed countries responsible for most of
the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere should do more
to cut their pollution and transfer clean technology to poorer
nations.
On Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced it had
established a team of elite diplomats to navigate the
negotiations. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi would head the team,
it said on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn).