How-to-save-the-world club
Hillary Clinton began her first full day in Beijing in the most beautiful part of this city - a 100 acre compound of parks, frozen lakes, and ancient villas. The compound houses the Diaoyutai State Guest House - you can only get inside with an official invitation.
This morning I had one, so I joined the US travelling press corps in a grey minibus and we drove into the grounds. Signing up with the travelling press entitles you to a number of things: access to a filing centre at the delegation's hotel; a seat on the minibus; an official State Department booklet with details about China (the booklet describes the non-political interests of the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, "When he worked in the Communist Youth League Central Committee, he occasionally danced solo at parties. He also plays table tennis fairly well."); and a turkey sandwich for lunch (cost: 51 rmb or £5.)
We were escorted into a main hall two hours before a press conference with Mrs Clinton and her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. The two were holding talks in a room nearby (it was so close that officials had to go round our room asking us all to be quiet, because our chatter was disturbing the official bilateral talks.)
The main hall was equipped with a grand piano (used this morning as a useful surface for folders and laptops) and had a view over a frozen lake.
At 11.47am, Mrs Clinton and Mr Yang came down the steps and started their news conference. Plenty of heavy-calibre diplomatic words were deployed - bilateral relations, strategic dialogue, issues of mutual interest and so on. But the translation was simple : Hillary Clinton came here to ask China to form a 2-member How-To-Save-The-World Club.
The Obama Administration wants to tackle the global financial crisis, climate change, and security issues including North Korea's nuclear programme. These are dusty subjects - but they are actually the kind of lie-awake-at-night worries that superpowers have - can we afford to give our people a better life ? Will the world get too hot to live in ? Will we be blown up in a nuclear war ?
The US believes that it cannot solve any of these problems unless China is involved. That's why Mrs Clinton is here in Beijing. Human rights were mentioned at the press conference - but only briefly. Yang Jiechi insisted that human rights in China were respected, "Although Beijing is chilly," he said, "I'm confident that you will see the biggest number of smiling faces here."
The press conference went on for 49 minutes. After a private lunch with a State Councilor, Mrs Clinton then headed off to a low-emission Chinese power plant which uses hi-tech American equipment. The message : This is how the US and China can tackle global warming together.
She spoke to an audience of Chinese students. Mrs Clinton came alive at one particular point, when she was talking about global warming :
"What we hope is that you won't make the same mistakes, because I don't think either China or the world can afford that. When we were industrialising and growing we didn't know any better. Neither did Europe. Now we're smart enough to know how to have the right kind of growth."
For China, these are interesting words. China has always insisted that the West is to blame for climate change - because of the Western industrial revolutions. Hearing America's chief diplomat come close to making the same point will be welcomed by many here.
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~43~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
Such kind of tone from one of the new leader of US is really surprising me, really, Reynolds.
It seems that China and Chinese have already adapt to an environment full of critics, on its human right, economy, politics and everything.
Now suddenly the attitude toward China is changed, is it?
Complain about this comment
Another use of the most convenient argument in the world -- "When we were emitters/colonists, we didn't know any better, but now that we do, you China must play by the new, more restrictive rules now that it is your turn."
That argument would hold a lot more water if Westerners would actually put their money where their mouths are and allow China more per capita consumption of resources while decreasing per capita consumption in the West. Such "subsidizing" of resources with a China now so limited by these new, more enlightened "rules" for growth would be a meaningful gesture of good faith and proof positive that these new rules are well intentioned.
RE: that factory with the moden US environmentally friendly equipment ... I bet China had to pay a hefty sum.
Oh, but wait, it's still a mad consumerist culture here in the West, and Chinese people time and again make do with less, and still get blamed as polluters, while factories responsible for the pollution ship their products to the West for consumption.
I am not convinced James, and no Chinese should be until the West learns to tighten belts.
If I ruin the rice field by growing my rice, and now that it's your turn to use the field, you can gain no harvest, the right thing to do is to give half the rice from my full bowl into your empty bowl so we may both fairly and equitably eat.
Is that happening? I think not.
Complain about this comment
Mrs Clinton realises the need to convince the Chinese that in the spirit of growing mutual respect as equal partners they have shared responsibilities in tackling a whole raft of international issues. In particular the subject of global warming is of critical importance. China, America and India have long been opposed to signing on to the Kyoto Protocol. But the environmental situation has become so dire that failure to respond to world demands that they sign would be an affront to nations all over the world. The Chinese want Hillary to show real empathy for the Chinese position. The Chinese and Americans are likely to hit a common chord.
Complain about this comment
So US wants China involves what us want?
From my point of view, China is not easy co-operat with US, if US gets things happen to their side, not both sides or worldwide side!
Complain about this comment
"Save the World" is a grand title, and if I was a Chinese Communist Party official, I shall indulge myself under this delusion even more since it is now officially granted by the West. The Chinese government is not capable of pulling the country out of this economic slump, I do not understand why the West would ignore such a powerful card in their hands. And the Communist Party could not have survived 1989 so well without the West, but now look, what a monster the West have saved! Isn't now a crucial time for the West to re-think and revise the strategies of dealing with China, after all, when things are going down hill, there is less to worry about. And I am not sure that the ordinary Chinese people share the same nightmare of global warming or nuclear bombs from their North Korean neighbour as you outlined James, but I'm sure you would agree that many Chinese wake up in a cold sweat worrying about their family members who are dying of cancer at an early age (thanks to the pollution) yet they cannot afford the medical bills, or their land being taken, or their relatives imprisoned and their petitions silenced. And it's a heartache for the Chinese to see their land being scarred and exploited whilst the wealth produced by the hard-working Chinese people only ends up in the pockets of a few in the top. Is this a country to save the world?
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I am glad that Mrs Hillary Clinton and her Chinese counterparts had stayed focus on the 3 most pressing issues on the agenda, namely the global economic crisis, the global warming and the security issue involving the North Korea. It was heartening to note that the issue of human rights, Tibet and Taiwan has only been mentioned briefly during he meeting. The issue of human rights, Tibet and Taiwan may seem to be important by some but they are really not as important as those problems discussed by the diplomats of the two giants.That should be the right direction to take by both sides in the face of this deteriorating world economy, the impact of the climate change and the nuclear programme undertaken by the unpreditable regime of the North Korea.
To the US, China is neither a friend nor a foe, however, at this critical time of having a world recession of this scale, the US should establish a closer ties with China as China is not only a stablising factor in Korean peninsular, but also a big player in the fight against the global warming and in saving the declining world economy.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
There is a big difference between the green house gases that were added during the industrial revolution of yestryear and those of today and the future.
First, there is a certain volume that can be tolerated by the system. If there was no more green house gas emission into the atmosphere starting today, it is more than likely that whatever exess volume has been accumulated so far would not be a threat in the future.
Second, the rate of change in the volume of green house gases in the atmosphere is important. There is a natural system of carbon storage in plant and animal fiber that can accomodate the gases as long as the system is not overwhelmed by a high rate of change in the volume. The industrial revolution pales in comparison to the rapid development of the Indian and Chinese economies over the last thirty years when measured by the rate of change in green house gases.
So assigning blame for climate change is not as simple as you make it sound in that last paragraph.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I would be interested to see how CCTV presented Hilary Clinton's visit on TV. Did they even mention that she was there? Do the people in the street even know who Hilary Clinton is, or what her husband did?
I suspect they show more on the DPRK than on a vist by the US Secretary of State. It took me about a week to realise the DPRK is 'Democratic Peaople's Republic of Korea' better know to everyone else as North Korea, but on CCTV-9 (the only english language channel on CCTV) always referred to as DPRK
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
It is an extremely positive step that the US and China are going to engage in a high-level dialogue on global warming. These two key players are critical to move the world away from the brink and towards a sustainable path. While no details were released on the key actions that will be undertaken in this dialogue, it will be essential that this dialogue not simply result in vague declarations, press releases, and photo-ops.
NRDC released a set of nine recommendations in advance of Secretary Clinton’s trip that could form the basis of the ensuing work. They are available here: http://tinyurl.com/af5fvw. These actions will need to be initiated quickly if we are going to turn the corner on global warming.
We need these two countries to come together quickly if we are going to be successful in getting a strong international agreement in Copenhagen and strong actions to cut global warming pollution in the years to come.
Complain about this comment
To Topcat1802:
don't worry, every taxi driver in Beijing knows who is Hillary and who is her husband, and what does North Korea refer to. But it is just appropriate for CCTV 9 to use the official name of the country.
And how many Chinese language channel does BBC or CNN have?
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
China is a super power. China can defeat Russia, India, the little islands of Japan and the Koreas at any time. They are free simply because China wants American money. We are talking to China instead of at China because America knows if China wanted to move into the oil fields of the desert lands it would take the US years to remove them. Europe knows that if China moved into the seas around the oil wells they could be cut off from oil, Russia knows that China is equal to them in military and above them in manufactoring, so if China moved north it is a good chance that Russia would loose half of its land mass. China is a vast popwerful nation that will flex its strength in the next decade and the world as we know it will not be ready to stand up to them.
With the world economy going south. With mass unemployment in China. With unrest with a large young work force that liked the new middle class life thaey had a taste of, we have a China that needs to redirect the nation and people. The way that has been used for centuries is to blame some group and go to war.
American money will not be pouring in. Food will have to be bought. Oil is needed. We have the manufactoring areas, raw materials and man power all that is needed is a group. The USA is an easy target but too far away. Why not Russia. They have grain and oil plus space we need or move into the Arab lands and control the cost of oil.
We have created a monster. We have lost control. We will have to live with a China Superpower while the rest of the world, Europe and Russia decide who is going to protect them as America is pulling back. And you thought the problems facing the new administrations were at home! Nope!
Complain about this comment
James:
These are dusty subjects - but they are actually the kind of lie-awake-at-night worries that superpowers have - can we afford to give our people a better life ? I hope that we can afford to better everyone's life....
Will the world get too hot to live in ?
Probably, yes...Unless major steps are taken to cool down the earth!
Will we be blown up in a nuclear war ? I hope not...
~Dennis Junior~
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS