China reaffirms commitment to climate cooperation, slams US trade policies

ISTANBUL

China reiterated its commitment to international climate cooperation while strongly opposing US trade policies.

Speaking at a press briefing Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian highlighted China's leadership in recently hosting the plenary session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the first time.

"With the strong support and promotion of China, the meeting adopted the outline of the IPCC's seventh assessment report, clarified the key directions of climate change scientific assessment, and laid an important foundation for gathering the efforts of the global scientific community and jointly improving the level of climate governance,” Lin said.

“We will continue to be committed to building a fair, reasonable, cooperative and win-win global climate governance system and support developing countries in building capacity and improving technology to cope with climate change,” he added.

On trade relations, Lin criticized US threats to impose additional tariffs on Chinese exports "under the pretext of the fentanyl issue."

“China firmly opposes the US's threat to impose additional tariffs on Chinese products exported to the US and will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate interests,” he said.

“There are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars,” he stressed, noting that China is willing to resolve its “respective concerns through dialogue and consultation on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”

Regarding the war in Ukraine, he said that China “will continue to be committed to playing a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and the realization of peace.”

Noting that Beijing supports “all efforts conducive to a peaceful resolution,” he said that China expects “all parties to find a sustainable and lasting solution that takes into account each other's concerns.”

On Taiwan, Lin said “there is only one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China,” accusing the US of distorting the “one-China principle.”

He also criticized US geopolitical strategies, urging Washington to abandon its “hegemonic logic,” which involves “treating other countries as pawns.”

He reaffirmed China’s commitment to “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation” in China-US relations while vowing to protect “national sovereignty.”