Toyako, Japan - A confident China is determined to play an
active role at the ongoing Group of Eight (G8) summit of leading
industrial nations.
Instead of adopting a defensive posture in the debate on climate
change, senior officials in the world's most populous nation have
warned against 'empty talk' about long-term goals.
China is pressing the rich industrial nations to adopt concrete
short and medium-term targets to curb the output of greenhouse gases,
a major cause of global warming.
It also wants the gathering in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost
island, to present concrete proposals to deal with the global food
crisis and spiralling oil prices.
Developing countries in particular are suffering from rising
energy and food costs and are also the 'worst victims' of global
warming, Chinese government officials said ahead of President Hu
Jintao's arrival in Toyako.
Never before has a Chinese leadership been so active at a G8
summit since it was first allowed to attend the annual gathering of
the club of rich nations at Evian in France in 2003.
Now China and fellow emerging economies India, Brazil, Mexico and
South Africa are regular participants because without them it is no
longer possible to resolve pressing global issues.
'It is a good opportunity for China to play an influential role as
a powerful country,' said Professor Yu Yingli of the Institute for
International Studies in Shanghai.
If economic clout alone is the criterion for membership of the G8,
then China would have to be included alongside current members
Germany, France, Britain, Italy, the US, Japan and Canada because it
is now the world's fourth biggest economy.
'If China received an invitation, I'm certain that we'd like to
join,' Yu Yingli said. But the present mechanism is functioning well,
he said, adding 'the fact that China is taking part means we are
recognized as a global power.'
Shortly before the summit, China's State Council adopted a plan to
increase grain production to show the world that it is capable of
feeding its 1-billion-plus population.
In order to ensure that China can continue to meet at least 95 per
cent of its grain needs in the coming 12 years, farmland will be
better protected and the rural infrastructure improved.
The plan is 'the biggest contribution towards securing global food
supplies,' according to Agriculture Ministry director Liu Zhengdong.
What is more urgent, however, is guaranteeing affordable energy
supplies to fuel China's economic boom.
Spiralling oil prices have been blamed by the government on a
shortfall in production, growing demand, a weak US dollar and
speculation.
Vice Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi feels the United States has to do
more to help the ailing dollar and oil producers should increase
output.
China has shown little willingness to compromise on the issue of
climate change, even though the politburo recently made combatting
global warming a national challenge.
Instead, it points to its goal of reducing energy consumption per
yuan of economic output by 20 per cent in 2010 compared to the 2005
figure. But it is well short of achieving this target.
China believes the rich nations have to do more because they are
to blame for most of the globe's accumulation of greenhouse gases and
have higher per capita emissions than many other countries.
Without China, it will not be possible to win the fight against
global warming.
It is the world's biggest consumer of coal and is poised to
overtake the United States as the biggest emitter of greenhouse
gases.
FiguresJul 7th, 2008 - 19:35:19
The Chinese use 6 or 7 times the coal to produce a dollars worth of output compared to the ton per dollar number of the USA but predicate thier calcuation on per capita, because they can show a favorable number to the world.
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