Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for November 5, 2022
Newsline: Washington seen freezing out China’s ambassador
China’s ambassador to the U.S. just became one of the more powerful people in the Chinese government. But the Biden administration has given him the cold shoulder for much of his tenure — a posture that could further complicate the touchy relations between the superpowers. (https://news.yahoo.com/biden-froze-china-ambassador-may-204916819.html) For months after arriving in Washington in September 2021, Qin Gang was limited to meetings with just a handful of U.S. officials, according to two people with knowledge of the interactions. One of those said that the shortlist of officials made available to Qin included Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council’s Indo-Pacific coordinator, and Laura Rosenberger, NSC’s senior director for China. That narrow access came despite repeated requests to meet with more senior administration officials, said those people — who were granted anonymity to share private conversations. The White House rejected this characterization, saying senior officials have regularly engaged with Qin.
Newsline: Former world leaders say only diplomacy can solve world issues
Only dialogue and diplomacy can end the devastating war in Ukraine, say members of The Elders, a group of prominent former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela. (https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2022/11/05/global-statesmen-diplomacy-can-solve-world-issues/8271278001/) A total victory on the battlefield impossible for either warring party, they say.
Newsline: China says US to blame for breakdown in climate change diplomacy
Climate change diplomacy between China and the US cannot be separated from broader political tensions between the two sides, and Washington must take responsibility for the breakdown in talks, China’s foreign ministry said. “China and the US previously developed good cooperation in the area of climate change, working together to get the Paris Agreement reached and brought into effect,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement. “At the same time, China-U.S. climate cooperation cannot be separated from the broad climate of bilateral ties,” the spokesperson added, noting that Pelosi’s “serious breach of Chinese sovereignty” in Taiwan had left China with no choice but to suspend the talks. “The United States side must take responsibility for this.” (https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/11/4/china-says-us-to-blame-for-breakdown-of-climate-cooperation) Nearly 200 countries are about to gather in the town of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt for another round of global climate negotiations but diplomatic tensions between the two biggest sources of climate-warming greenhouse gas have threatened to overshadow the meeting, known as COP27. Agreements and joint declarations by Beijing and Washington helped drive through the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015. But China suspended all bilateral discussions in August following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
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