MEDIA REACTION: CLIMATE CHANGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003411 DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/CM, EAP/PA, EAP/PD, C HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ECON SENV KGHG KMDR OPRC CH SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CLIMATE CHANGE -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- CLIMATE CHANGE a. "International cooperation on climate change is going forward, some difficulty remains" The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao)(12/21)(pg 13): "The Accord is a strong combination of commitment and compromise. Some media believe that although the result of the Copenhagen Conference is not satisfying, the conference has effectively promoted climate negotiation's movement forward. The results of the Copenhagen Conference leave our final hope to the 2010 U.N. Climate Conference in Mexico City. The two most disputed issues at the Conference were emissions reduction goals and financial support. The challenge facing the future will be the competition between the right to develop and room for that development. Developing countries will most directly be influenced by climate change. Counselor Yi Xianliang, director of foreign affairs office on climate change at the Foreign Ministry of China, said that the nature of the climate change issue is the issue of development. In 2009 there has been an unprecedented increase in all countries' focus on climate change, their political will and their public's attention to climate change. Disputes over the issue are being intensified, which urge all the countries involved to 'show their cards.' However, at the same time, due to the financial crisis and other reasons, developed countries were withdrawing support of the issue and shaking off their responsibilities to countries which are still developing." b. "The Copenhagen Conference showed us some signs of hope, at least" The official Communist Youth League China Youth Daily (Zhongguo Qingnianbao)(12/21)(pg 5): "The Conference almost completely failed. However there are some signs of hope. The Copenhagen Accord will take effect in ten days and as President Obama said, it was an 'unprecedented breakthrough.' However, some countries did not view the Accord positively. German Prime Minister Merkel said that she was forced to agreed to the Accord, the only other choice would have been the failure of the negotiations. Two characteristics are worth noting at the Conference: first, the whole world is united and all countries are making efforts towards one goal - combating climate change, which in the past 100 years, and in all human's history, this is the very first time. Two, the Copenhagen Conference also reflected the shift to a 'new multi-polar world.' The United States is no longer the sole contributor. Many small countries issued their voice at the Conference, for example the Sudan and the Republic of Maldives." c. "China should 'cut the clothes according to the cloth' over climate disputes" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(12/21)(pg 14): "The Copenhagen Summit closed amid disappointment. At the summit, although the two groups should have been on the same side, two major groups formed: the offensive Western industrial countries and the defensive underdeveloped countries. The result of the competition is hard to predict since each party is a bit 'unbalanced': first, their responsibilities were unbalanced, for example: the developed countries tried to shake off their responsibilities by only looking to the newly-emerging countries' economic activities in the latest decade while ignoring the West's industrialization over the past several hundred years. Second, their duties were unbalanced. Western countries intended to let the developing countries take the main task in emissions reductions. Third, the consequences will be unbalanced. When the poor countries become poorer, the sky of rich countries become bluer, the justice of this climate war will be a new research subject for historians. China has reason to request that scientists from developing countries, including China, bring forth their research results, which are crucial for making decisions that maximize their own interests. China's development policies should not be decided based on reports compiled by foreign institutes." d. "Why did China take a 'strong' stance at the Climate Conference" The Beijing-based newspaper sponsored by official intellectual publication Guangming Daily and Guangdong Provincial official publication Nanfang Daily The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao)(12/19)(pg A03): "Shi Yinhong, the Director of the School of International Relations at Renmin University, said that China's performance and all the developing countries' performances were prominent at the Conference. For instance, China brought forward a positive emissions reduction goal. In comparison, the developed countries' performance was quite dissatisfying. Especially the U.S.'s request, BEIJING 00003411 002 OF 002 that China needs to fulfill its emissions reduction promise and receive international supervision, violated China's interests as a sovereign country. What's more, it is also unreasonable that the United States intends to single China out of the developing countries who would receive compensation. These are the reasons for China's strong stance at the Conference. First, China needs to uphold the principles of the United Nations. Second, China needs to protect its national interests as well as that of the other developing countries. However, Shi added, China does not want to act as the advocate for developing countries." GOLDBERG