Claim China obstructs climate agenda beggars belief

The G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Ministers' Meeting in Chennai, India, late last month failed to produce a communique. This was because some developed countries tried to mix geopolitical issues with the climate agenda.

However, some Western media baselessly attributed it to "obstruction" by China with the purpose of discrediting China's contribution to promoting global climate governance.

China has made great efforts to improve global climate governance, which is widely recognized by the world. In recent years, China has been holding climate cooperation dialogues with the United States, the European Union and other developed economies. At the same time, it has vigorously promoted practical cooperation with other developing countries, signed 43 South-South cooperation documents on climate change with 38 developing countries, and trained about 2,000 officials and technicians in the field of climate change for more than 120 less-developed countries.

At present, there are prominent differences among the parties participating in the international climate negotiations, and the negotiation process is slow. The main obstacle lies in the lack of willingness of developed countries to play their due role in the process. Their failure to fulfill their financial and technical assistance commitments has led to deepening mistrust among the parties.

The reports of certain Western media in disregard of the facts have further harmed and undermined international mutual trust and global climate cooperation.

Some Western countries have tried their best to downplay their own responsibilities and obligations in addressing climate change, and have even frequently undermined the global response to climate change with unilateral measures that break global supply chains and erect trade barriers.

The international community should strive to rebuild political mutual trust and return to the right track of cooperation. In particular, it should resolutely eliminate the interference and damage of geopolitical factors on international cooperation on climate change. Some Western media should not slip further down the road of becoming a "mouthpiece" or "megaphone" for anti-China politicians to smear and attack China.