US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on her third day of the China trip said it is ‘critical’ for Washinton and Beijing to work together on climate finance. Addressing a roundtable of experts, Yellen called global warming an “existential threat” and urged for deeper cooperation between the two nations.
“As the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases and the largest investors in renewable energy, we have both a joint responsibility –- and ability -– to lead the way,” said Jellen.
“Climate change is at the top of the list of global challenges, and the United States and China must work together to address this existential threat,” she added.
Yellen pressed Beijing to support environmental, multilateral institutions like the Green Climate Fund and called upon the private sector to transition towards net zero.
“Both our economies seek to support partners in emerging markets and developing countries as they strive to meet their climate goals, and I believe continued US-China cooperation on climate finance is critical.”
Good cop, bad cop
Yellen’s trip to China is being seen as an attempt to repair the broken ties between the two countries, according to experts. Throughout the trip, Yellen has been playing the good cop, bad cop routine.
On Friday, during one of the addresses, Yellen criticises China’s punitive measures against US companies but added that complete decoupling of the US and Chinese economies was “impossible”.
“We seek to diversify, not to decouple. A decoupling of the world’s two largest economies would be destabilising for the global economy,” Yellen told representatives of US businesses at a session hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.
“And it would be virtually impossible to undertake.”
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Avoid misunderstandings: Yellen
Shortly after the arrival, Yellen posted a series of tweets wherein she hoped that Washington and Beijing are able to ‘communicate and avoid miscommunication’.
“We seek a healthy economic competition that benefits American workers and firms and to collaborate on global challenges,” Yellen wrote on Twitter.
“We will take action to protect our national security when needed, and this trip presents an opportunity to communicate and avoid miscommunication or misunderstanding.”
Also read | ‘Avoid miscommunication…’: Yellen after arriving in Beijing on four-day trip
Yellen’s visit to China comes a few weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Beijing and met President Xi Jinping. The Biden administration, in recent months, has set about to thaw the icing relations after the US military shot down a Chinese government spy balloon over the United States.
With Biden likely to meet Xi at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September, the groundwork is being laid out by the visit of top leaders, to ensure a smooth channel of communication is developed.
(With inputs from agencies)
