Xi Meets Palestine's Abbas - China's Human Rights Pitch - Electricity Consumption Data - Blinken-Qin Call - Minerals Reserves Data - Warning Against 'Green Protectionism'
Here are the key reports and articles that I found noteworthy from the People's Daily's edition on Thursday, June 15, 2023.
Page 1: At the top of the page is the report on Xi’s letter to theCh. I covered this in yesterday’s edition. Today on Page 2, there’s a report on the “enthusiastic responses” of the forum’s attendees. Also on Page 2 is a commentary on the human rights issue. It talks about Xi’s letter and then says:
“The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action has played an important role in the history of the development of human rights in the world. It emphasises the unity of the equality and indivisibility of human rights and highlights the international community's responsibility to promote effective international cooperation, achieve the right to development, and eliminate obstacles to development. This reflects the wishes of the vast number of developing countries, which account for the vast majority of the world's population and has laid the foundation for all countries to carry out international cooperation and realise the goal of protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations.” 《维也纳宣言和行动纲领》在世界人权事业发展史上发挥了重要作用，强调人权的平等性和不可分割性相统一，强调国际社会应促进有效的国际合作，实现发展权利，消除发展障碍，反映了占世界人口绝大多数的广大发展中国家的意愿，为各国开展国际合作、实现《联合国宪章》所规定的保护人权和基本自由的目标奠定了基础.
“At present, humanity is once again at a historical crossroads, and global human rights governance is facing severe challenges. The confrontation and polarisation in the field of human rights are intensifying, and the politicisation and instrumentalization of human rights issues have seriously poisoned the healthy development of human rights in the world. Practising the spirit of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and promoting the development of global human rights governance in a more fair, just, reasonable and inclusive direction is the proper meaning of improving global human rights governance.” 当前，人类又一次站在历史的十字路口，全球人权治理面临严峻挑战。人权领域对抗和分化正在加剧，人权问题政治化、工具化严重毒害世界人权事业健康发展。践行《维也纳宣言和行动纲领》精神，推动全球人权治理朝着更加公平公正合理包容的方向发展，是完善全球人权治理的应有之义.
The article then makes a pitch for GSI as making up for the security deficit in the world and thereby furthering the cause of human rights development. It says that “security is the most basic requirement of mankind, and without peace and stability, human rights cannot be discussed. Only by protecting human rights with security, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, taking the path of peaceful development and practising GSI can we create a peaceful environment for the realisation of human rights. The Cold War mentality will only undermine the global peace framework, hegemonism and power politics will only endanger world peace, and bloc confrontation will only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century.” 安全是人类最基本的要求，没有和平稳定，人权无从谈起。只有以安全守护人权，尊重各国主权和领土完整，同走和平发展道路，践行全球安全倡议，才能为实现人权创造安宁的环境。冷战思维只会破坏全球和平框架，霸权主义和强权政治只会危害世界和平，集团对抗只会加剧21世纪安全挑战.
The next paragraph makes a pitch for GDI. “China advocates promoting human rights through development, implementing GDI, enhancing the inclusiveness, universality, and sustainability of development, and ensuring the equal enjoyment of human rights by the people of all countries through their own distinctive modernization paths.” 中方主张以发展促进人权，践行全球发展倡议，提高发展的包容性、普惠性和可持续性，以各具特色的现代化之路保障各国人民公平享有人权. The article calls GDI an “important international public good that guarantees the equal enjoyment of human rights by people of all countries.”
The next paragraph talks about GCI. “China advocates promoting human rights through cooperation, mutual respect, treating each other as equals; it implements the Global Civilization Initiative, strengthens exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, building consensus through dialogue, and jointly promoting the development and progress of human rights civilization.” 中方主张以合作推进人权，相互尊重，平等相待，践行全球文明倡议，加强文明交流互鉴，通过对话凝聚共识，共同推动人权文明发展进步.
The piece ends by saying: “China is willing to work with all parties to promote the common values of all mankind, adhere to the concepts of equality, mutual trust, tolerance and mutual learning, win-win cooperation and common development, and continue to inject positive energy into promoting the healthy development of the global human rights cause.” 中方愿同各方一道，弘扬全人类共同价值，坚持平等互信、包容互鉴、合作共赢、共同发展的理念，为推动世界人权事业健康发展不断注入正能量.
The other lead story on the front page is on Xi’s meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“The two leaders announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Palestine. Xi said China and Palestine are good friends and good partners who trust and support each other. He said China was one of the first countries to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine. China has all along firmly supported the Palestinian people's just cause of restoring their legitimate national rights and worked for a comprehensive, just and durable solution of the Palestinian question at an early date, Xi said. China supports Palestine in becoming a full member state of the United Nations, will continue to speak up for Palestine and champion justice on multilateral occasions, and will provide assistance as best as it can to help ease humanitarian difficulties and reconstruction in Palestine, Xi said. He called on both sides to take the establishment of strategic partnership as an opportunity to continue supporting each other on issues of core concern, advance cooperation in various areas, deepen partnership in jointly building the Belt and Road, speed up negotiations on the China-Palestine free trade agreement, share experiences on national governance and further the traditional friendship.”
Xi Jinping emphasised that the Palestine issue has been delayed for more than half a century, bringing great suffering to the Palestinian people; justice must be restored to Palestine as soon as possible. Xi then put forward a three-point proposal:
First, the fundamental solution lies in the establishment of an independent state of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders and with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Second, Palestine’s economic and livelihood needs should be met, and the international community needs to step up development assistance and humanitarian aid to Palestine.
Third, it is important to keep to the right direction of peace talks. The historical status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem should be respected, and excessive and provocative words and actions should be avoided. A large-scale, more authoritative and more influential international peace conference should be convened so as to create conditions for the resumption of peace talks and contribute tangible efforts to help Palestine and Israel live in peace.”
Interestingly, Xi added: “China stands ready to play a positive role to assist Palestine in achieving internal reconciliation and promote peace talks.” — Comment: I don’t follow China’s engagement with Palestine closely but this seems new.
Xi then said that “Faced with the once-in-a-century changes in the world and the new changes in the situation in the Middle East, China is willing to strengthen unity and cooperation with developing countries like Palestine, enhance coordination in international and regional affairs, advance China's cooperation with Arab states, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international fairness and justice.” 习近平强调，面对世界百年变局和中东地区局势新变化，中方愿同巴勒斯坦等发展中国家加强团结合作，在国际和地区事务中加强配合，推进中阿集体合作，维护发展中国家共同利益和国际公平正义.
Xinhua add:
“Abbas thanked China for its long-term strong support and selfless assistance for the Palestinian people's just cause of restoring their legitimate national rights, calling China a trustworthy friend and partner. Abbas said Palestine supports China's position on issues concerning its core interests and follows the one-China principle, adding that Palestine will work with China to promote the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen bilateral cooperation and build a community with a shared future for humanity. Palestine backs the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi, and speaks highly of the China-mediated talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Abbas said. He thanked China for putting forward a number of initiatives on an early and just settlement of the Palestinian question. The Palestinian side believes in China's wisdom and just position and expects China to play a greater role in promoting intra-Palestinian reconciliation and realizing peace in the Middle East.”
The report informs that the two sides signed economic and technological cooperation agreements and other bilateral cooperation documents, and they issued a joint statement.
The joint statement is available on Page 2. Key excerpts below:
The two sides will continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns. Palestine firmly adheres to the one-China principle, supports China in safeguarding national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and resolutely opposes any force interfering in China's internal affairs; the Palestinian side reaffirms that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. It resolutely opposes any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ and reaffirms that it will not conduct any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, and supports all efforts made by the China government to achieve national reunification. The Palestinian side firmly supports China's position on Hong Kong-related issues, supports China's efforts to safeguard national security under the ‘one country, two systems’ framework, firmly believes that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs, and strongly condemns the illegal acts of external forces interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs; the Palestinian side reiterated that Xinjiang-related issues are not fundamentally human rights issues, but rather about countering violent terrorism, de-radicalization and anti-separatism. Palestine resolutely opposes interference in China's internal affairs under the pretext of Xinjiang-related issues. 双方将继续在涉及彼此核心利益和重大关切问题上坚定相互支持。巴方坚定奉行一个中国原则，支持中国维护国家主权、统一和领土完整，坚决反对任何势力干涉中国内政；重申中华人民共和国政府是代表全中国的唯一合法政府，台湾是中国领土不可分割的一部分，坚决反对任何形式的“台独”，重申不同台湾进行任何形式的官方往来，支持中国政府为实现国家统一所作的一切努力；坚定支持中方在涉港问题上的立场，支持中方在“一国两制”框架下维护国家安全的努力，坚定认为香港事务纯属中国内政，强烈谴责外部势力干涉香港事务和中国内政的非法行径；重申涉疆问题根本不是人权问题，而是反暴恐、去极端化和反分裂问题，巴方坚决反对借口涉疆问题干涉中国内政.
China firmly supports the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights…China firmly supports the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital…supports Palestine to resume peace talks with Israel on the basis of the principle of ‘land for peace’, relevant UN resolutions, and the ‘two-state solution’ to achieve peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel. 中方坚定支持巴勒斯坦人民恢复民族合法权利的正义事业，将始终同巴勒斯坦人民站在一起，为推动巴勒斯坦问题早日得到全面、公正、持久解决而不懈努力；坚定支持建立以1967年边界为基础、以东耶路撒冷为首都、拥有完全主权的、独立的巴勒斯坦国；支持维护耶路撒冷宗教圣地历史上形成的现状；支持巴勒斯坦成为联合国正式会员国；支持巴勒斯坦加强内部团结；支持巴勒斯坦在“土地换和平”原则、联合国有关决议、“两国方案”等基础上同以色列恢复和谈，实现巴以和平共处.
Palestine backed the GDI, GSI and GCI proposals
There’s mention of BRI, promoting negotiations on the China-Pakistan Free Trade Area and the need to continue to promote exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, education, and media. China will also continue to provide humanitarian assistance, implement development projects and strengthen capacity building work.
“The two sides will strengthen coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs, jointly adhere to true multilateralism, defend the international system with the United Nations at the core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. They will jointly oppose hegemonism and power politics, and promote the construction of a new type of international relations. The two sides support the promotion of the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, respect the people of all countries' independent choice of democratic development path and social and political system suited to their national conditions, and resolutely oppose the politicisation and instrumentalization of human rights issues and any country's interference in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of democracy and human rights.” 五、双方将在地区和国际事务中加强协调配合，共同坚持真正的多边主义，捍卫以联合国为核心的国际体系、以国际法为基础的国际秩序、以联合国宪章宗旨和原则为基础的国际关系基本准则，共同反对霸权主义和强权政治，推动构建新型国际关系。双方支持弘扬和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值，尊重各国人民自主选择适合本国国情的民主发展道路和社会政治制度，坚决反对将人权问题政治化、工具化，坚决反对任何国家以民主、人权为借口干涉别国内政.
Finally, there’s a report with electricity consumption data. It says that:
In May, the electricity consumption of the whole society was 722.2 billion kwh, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%.
Primary industry consumption was 10.3 billion kwh, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%; secondary industry consumption was 495.8 billion kwh, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%; tertiary industry consumption was 128.5 billion kwh, a year-on-year increase of 20.9% %
Urban and rural residents' living electricity consumption was 87.6 billion kwh, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%
From January to May this year, the total electricity consumption of the whole society was 3,532.5 billion kwh, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%
“According to the person in charge at the China Electric Power Enterprise Federation, it is estimated that the maximum power consumption load nationally will be about 1.37 billion kilowatts this year. This is an increase of about 80 million kilowatts compared to 2022 In the event of long-term and large-scale extreme weather, the country's highest electricity load may increase by about 100 million kilowatts compared with 2022. During the peak summer this year, it is expected that the overall supply and demand of electricity in the country will be tightly balanced.” 中国电力企业联合会有关负责人介绍，预计今年全国最高用电负荷13.7亿千瓦左右，比2022年增加8000万千瓦左右。若出现长时段大范围极端气候，全国最高用电负荷可能比2022年增加1亿千瓦左右。今年迎峰度夏期间，预计全国电力供需总体紧平衡.
Page 2: The page carries a confirmation of US Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to China on June 18 and 19. This comes along with a report on the call between Qin Gang and Blinken. The Chinese readout says:
“Qin Gang pointed out that since the beginning of the year, China-US relations have encountered new difficulties and challenges, and the responsibilities are clear. China has always approached and handled China-US relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping. Qin Gang expounded China's solemn position on core concerns, such as the Taiwan issue, and emphasised that the US side should show respect, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and cease damaging China's sovereignty, security, development, and interests under the pretext of competition. It is hoped that the US side will take practical actions to implement the important consensus of the Bali meeting between the two heads of state and the relevant commitments made by the US side, move in the same direction as China, effectively manage differences, promote exchanges and cooperation, and push China-US relations to stabilise, return to a healthy and stable development track.” 秦刚指出，年初以来，中美关系遭遇新的困难和挑战，责任是清楚的。中方始终遵循习近平主席提出的相互尊重、和平共处、合作共赢原则看待和处理中美关系。秦刚就台湾问题等中方核心关切阐明了严正立场，强调美方应予尊重，停止干涉中国内政，停止以竞争为名损害中方主权安全发展利益。希望美方采取实际行动，落实两国元首巴厘岛会晤重要共识及美方有关承诺，同中方相向而行，有效管控分歧、促进交流合作，推动中美关系止跌企稳，重回健康稳定发展轨道.
Two other China-US related stories which are not in PD. First, here’s MoFA’s response to Janet Yellen’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.
“AFP: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said yesterday that institutions like the IMF and the World Bank reflect American values and serve as a counterweight to unsustainable lending from others like China. She also said she doesn’t think China should qualify for the World Bank’s loans. Do you have any response to Yellen’s comments?
Wang Wenbin: The IMF and the World Bank are multilateral financial institutions and platforms that reflect the trend towards greater democracy in international relations and advance international cooperation on the basis of fully taking into account the interests of all member states. The IMF is not the “International Monetary Fund of the United States”, neither is the World Bank for that matter. China has always carried out investment and financing cooperation with developing countries in keeping with international rules and the principle of openness and transparency. We never attach any political strings to such cooperation, nor do we seek any selfish political interests. We have been helping developing countries relieve debt burdens, and made the biggest contribution to implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative. I would also like to say that according to World Bank statistics, multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors account for more than 80 percent of the sovereign debt of developing countries. They are the biggest source of stress on developing countries in terms of debt payment. Since last year, the US has launched unprecedented massive interest rate hikes, making the debt problems of certain countries even worse and sending more shock waves through the global financial market. The US needs to take concrete steps to help developing countries and engage multilateral financial institutions in being part of the solution to debt treatment, rather than introduce geopolitical confrontation into multilateral financial institutions.”
Second, China’s Ministry of Commerce saying that China firmly opposes the decision by the United States to include certain Chinese entities on an export control list under the pretext of so-called military and human rights concerns. Xinhua reports:
“It is a typical act of economic coercion and unilateral bullying by the United States to generalize national security and abuse export controls without factual basis, the spokesperson added. Such a move seriously undermines the legitimate rights and interests of companies, and harms the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains, the ministry spokesperson said. ‘The United States should immediately rectify its wrong practices and cease its unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises,’ the spokesperson added. China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson said.”
Earlier, Reuters reported that the Biden administration on Monday “added 43 entities to an export control list, including Frontier Services Group Ltd, a security and aviation company previously run by Erik Prince, for training Chinese military pilots and other activities that threaten U.S. national security. The Test Flying Academy of South Africa, a flight school under scrutiny by authorities in Britain for recruiting British ex-military pilots to train Chinese military fliers, was also added to the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List.”
“In addition to recruiting Western pilots to train People's Liberation Army pilots on Western aircraft maneuvers, companies were added to the list for acquiring U.S.-origin items in support of China's military modernization, including hypersonic weapons development and hypersonic flight modeling, the Commerce Department said in a release…Thirty-one Chinese entities in total were added to the list. Shanghai Supercomputing Technology Co Ltd was added for offering cloud-based supercomputing capabilities to support hypersonics research. Nine Chinese and Pakistani companies were added for contributing to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program and other weapons contributions…And two companies were added for enabling China to carry out human rights abuses, including as part of its repression of the Ugyhur Muslims and members of other minority groups in Xinjiang, western China. Ryan Wende Science and Technology Co in Beijing procures and distributes mobile phone inspection software, fingerprint analysis technology, biostatistics software and DNA testing items to Public Security Bureaus throughout China, the Commerce Department said. Xinjiang Kehua Hechang Biological Science and Technology Co Ltd acquires and distributes biotech items to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which is on the entity list, and Public Service Bureaus in Xinjiang.”
Next, there’s a report (English report) on China approving the imports of bananas and coffee beans from Honduras starting Tuesday.
The report informs that “China has also ratified access of Honduran white shrimps to its market as the two countries officially signed protocol documents for Honduran aquaculture products on Monday. To date, the GAC has approved the registration of 10 Honduran coffee beans and nine aquatic products enterprises in China. Since China and Honduras established diplomatic relations in March this year, the bilateral trade scaled up. In the first four months of 2023, the total value of China's imports from and exports to Honduras jumped 22.9 percent year on year to top 3.89 billion yuan (about $543.55 million).”
Third, there’s a report on State Councilor Shen Yiqin meeting with a foreign delegation led by Thomas Wagner, honorary president of the Swiss-Chinese Association. Xinhua says:
“Shen said it is hoped that the two sides, guided by the jointly cultivated China-Switzerland spirit of ‘equality, innovation and mutual benefit’ in cooperation, will seize the new opportunities of China's modernization drive and promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges under the framework of the China-Switzerland innovative strategic partnership. Wagner said the Swiss-Chinese Association is willing to act as a bridge to promote economic development, cultural exchanges and local cooperation further between Switzerland and China.”
Fourth, a brief report on Hu Chunhua’s travel to Riyadh to attend the 10th Arab-China Business Conference. Hu delivered a keynote speech there. The report doesn’t provide details. SCMP’s reporting is more useful:
“At the opening of the 10th Arab-China Business Conference in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Sunday morning, Hu Chunhua, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said China would continue to support Chinese and Arab businesses in deepening investment opportunities in both directions. “We welcome Arab businesses to expand their investments in China, and we would also provide support to strong Chinese businesses in investing in Arab countries,” Hu said. “China is going to progress pragmatically with Saudi Arabia on revitalising our respective civilisations. We will deepen cooperation on production capacity and basic infrastructure, and in strengthening trade, investment and financial relations, in order to help diversify Saudi Arabia’s economic development,” Hu said, adding that China would boost growth in the country’s green energy, health, aviation and digital economic sectors. “We are also looking forward to seeing a more open and fair business environment for investors in Arab countries, where investors’ rights can be rightfully protected,” he said.”
Hu also said that “the event was an important opportunity to “strengthen” and “practically implement” achievements from the first China-Arab summit that Chinese President Xi Jinping attended in Riyadh in December.”
Also on the page is this bit from MoFA on RCEP.
Hubei Media Group: The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement entered into force for all its 15 signatory states not long ago. Anna Robeniol, Advisor to the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Economic Community, said that RCEP brings good opportunities for member states to open up their markets and seek greater market scope and can promote trade cooperation between member states. How do you see RCEP’s role in promoting trade cooperation in the Asia-Pacific?
Wang Wenbin: The entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement for all its 15 signatory states marks the beginning of a new phase of full implementation for RCEP, which covers more population, involves more trade and has more potential to grow than any other free trade area in the world. RECP is a milestone in Asia-Pacific economic integration. It is a great example of regional countries sharing opportunities for development. Since its implementation began, trade links between relevant countries have grown notably, trade within the region has become a key engine stabilizing and driving external trade, and the region has remained a popular destination for global investment. RCEP has actually given a strong boost to regional integration, development and prosperity. It has delivered tangible benefits for participating states in terms of tariff concession, trade facilitation, greater transparency in investment policies and fewer technical trade barriers. Take China, the largest economy within RCEP, for example. In 2022, trade between China and other RCEP members reached RMB 12.95 trillion, up by 7.5 percent, while their investment in China, in actual use, went up 23.1 percent to USD 23.53 billion. The full entry into force of RCEP reflects regional countries’ strong aspiration for economic integration and common development. As a staunch supporter of trade liberalization and facilitation and an important participant in regional cooperation, China stands ready to work together with all relevant parties to advance high-quality implementation of RCEP and inject new impetus into economic recovery in the region and beyond.
Page 13: A brief report informing that in 2022, nearly 40% of the 163 minerals with proven reserves in China saw expansion in reserves.
Among these, oil increased by 3.2% year-on-year; Natural gas increased by 3.6% year-on-year; and shale gas increased by 3.0% year-on-year. In terms of key minerals, lithium, cobalt and nickel reserves increased by 57%, 14.5% and 3%, respectively. The reserves of copper, lead and zinc increased by 16.7%, 7.1% and 4.2%, respectively.
Also on the page is a report on the General Administration of Customs saying that it has launched 16 initiatives to optimize the business environment. These steps are divided into four categories:
promote the smooth flow of import and export logistics
promote the facilitation of cross-border trade
support enterprises to reduce burden and increase efficiency
promote the innovative development of foreign trade
Page 17: On the international page, the lead story is the third in the series on the adverse effects of US “hegemony” and sanctions policies. This one deals with US policy with regard to Iran.
Another interesting report on the page is about the “goodwill” visit of Chinese naval training ship Qi Jiguang (Hull 83) to the Philippines. Xinhua reports:
“More than 300 people, including Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, defense attache to the Philippines Li Jianzhong, staff of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, representatives of Chinese companies, local Chinese associations and Chinese students, as well as representatives of the Philippine Navy, welcomed ship Qi Jiguang at the port. During the visit to the Philippines, the ship commanders will pay a courtesy call to the commander of the Philippine Navy and officials of the Philippine Department of National Defense, and attend a welcome dinner hosted by the Philippine Navy. The Chinese crew members will visit the Philippines' naval vessels and hold friendly cultural and sports activities with Philippine navy officers. This is the first visit to the Philippines by ship Qi Jiguang. During its stay, the ship will open to the public. A deck reception will also be organized.”
Finally, there’s a report based on remarks (English version) by China’s UN envoy Zhang Jun at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Climate, Peace, and Security. He basically argued that:
“developed countries have a historical responsibility to shoulder for global climate change. It stands to reason that they take the lead in significantly reducing emissions and achieving net zero or even negative carbon emissions sooner. Unfortunately, since last year, there has been a reversal in the energy policies of some developed countries. Their fossil energy consumption and carbon emissions have increased, not decreased. These developments are disconcerting. The Council should place its role and should watch these developments very closely.”
“Developed countries are in huge arrears on climate finance. The annual shortfall of 100 billion US dollars must be made up as soon as possible, and the new collective quantified goal for the post-2025 period be set. Last year COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh established the loss and damage fund, and developing countries are eagerly awaiting the fund’s early operationalization. The relevant UN agencies should do their part in promoting the implementation of the fund, including creating a mechanism to monitor the implementation of climate finance and to encourage developed countries to genuinely translate their political commitments to concrete actions. The Council should play its role and pronounce itself strongly in these areas.”
“Green protectionism in developed countries is something we must watch out for. Under the pretext of promoting their own energy transition, certain countries have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in hefty subsidies for their manufacturing industries through various unfair bills and administrative initiatives, while setting up trade barriers against the green industries of other countries and blocking developing countries access to green technologies. These acts are a blatant violation of WTO rules, as they disrupt global green industrial and supply chains, undermine countries’ efforts to achieve sustainable development goals, and run counter to the international community's collective efforts to address climate change. These acts have also made certain countries bombastic slogans sound hollow, anemic, and hypocritical. If this Council were to do its job properly, it must firmly reject such behavior and practice. Green protectionism is becoming a ball and chain that shackles developing countries and keeps them at the bottom rung of the global value chain. Another ball and chain that hamstrings the ability of developing countries to achieve development and maintain stability is none other than unlawful unilateral sanctions.”