WASHINGTON: US climate envoy John Kerry arrived in China on Sunday, state media reported, to restart stalled talks between the world’s two biggest emitters of planet-warming gases.
Starting on Monday, “China and the United States will have an in-depth exchange of views” on climate issues, state broadcaster CCTV said on Kerry’s arrival in Beijing.
Kerry’s trip to China, where he will meet with his counterpart Xie Zhenhua, follows weeks of record-setting summer heat that scientists say is being exacerbated by climate change.
Bilateral climate talks stalled last year after Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited self-ruled Taiwan and infuriated Beijing, which considers the island its territory.
But Kerry, a former secretary of state, has enjoyed comparatively cordial and consistent relations with China despite Washington and Beijing locking horns over Taiwan and a number of other thorny issues, including advanced semiconductors.
His trip to Beijing is his third as President Joe Biden’s climate emissary and also comes after two other high-profile visits by US officials — first Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — aimed at stabilising US-China ties.
The Biden administration has identified climate as an area for potential cooperation with Beijing, despite the tensions elsewhere. –Agencies
