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President Biden, Xi Jinping
AP
As the United States struggles domestically over how to tackle the long-term challenges posed by climate change, China is reaping the benefits and plotting to exploit its environmental challenges, a new Heritage Foundation report claims. are doing.
“Proponents of a radical climate change agenda have little regard for China’s pernicious role in it. ,” the study authors said in a statement.
The report, titled “China’s Handcuffs: How China Exploits America’s Climate Change Agenda,” was written by Erin Walsh, senior fellow in international relations at Heritage’s Center for Asian Studies. and Andrew Harding, research assistant at the Center for Asian Studies.
The authors speculated that China’s expansion into green energy is aimed at addressing fundamental geopolitical and economic weaknesses in the energy sector and strengthening its international position as a whole.
“The United States is an energy powerhouse and one of the world’s three largest energy producers. By comparison, China, the world’s largest energy importer, is vulnerable in net energy terms,” they write.
“But over the past five years, China has [People’s Republic of China] By taking control of the so-called green movement, it is implementing a plan to reverse these roles. ”
Given serious long-term concerns about the effects of climate change, the authors wonder whether left-wing politicians may be tempted to overlook the national security threat posed by Beijing pursuing a green energy renaissance. Are concerned.
“For the political left, the urgent need to reduce the effects of climate change requires cheap, subsidized, Chinese-made infrastructure such as solar panels, wind turbines, power storage, and electric vehicle (EV) batteries.” writing.
China currently controls 80% of the solar power supply chain, producing around 95% of the solar panels purchased in the European Union. It also controls 40-50% of the world’s supply of rare earth elements, which are essential for the production of a wide range of green energy technologies.
The newspaper cited China’s decision in December 2023 to ban exports of technology needed to manufacture rare earth magnets as an example of the Chinese government’s influence.
“The current deterioration of the threat environment should mean that the United States is no longer dependent on foreign adversaries, particularly China, for critical energy resources and supply chains,” Walsh and Harding wrote.
The authors also emphasized that the Chinese government is “flooding the market with products that are below market cost” in order to crush foreign competition from countries such as the United States.
Although forced labor is widespread in China, regulatory trends occurring in the United States are pushing it further. One example is that 54% of China’s polysilicon production was in the Xinjiang region, which is home to the Uyghur people and has many human rights issues.
According to the study, in 2023, China’s investment in clean energy will increase by 40% compared to the previous year, mainly due to investment in research and development and manufacturing.
Chinese leaders have been talking loudly in public about reducing carbon emissions.
In a speech, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said, “Humanity is no longer ignoring nature’s repeated warnings, extracting resources without investing in conservation, pursuing development at the expense of conservation, and not restoring them.” “We cannot continue down this insane path of exploiting resources.” Dispatched to the United Nations in September 2020.
In 2015, the Chinese government agreed to the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050.
However, the authors were skeptical of China’s sincerity in fighting the crisis.
They highlighted Mr. Xi’s statement at the 20th Party Congress in 2022 that “China will not stop using fossil fuels until it is confident that clean energy can replace them.”
“The Chinese Communist Party’s climate change policies are part of an overall agenda to accelerate the rise of China and the decline of the United States. If America loses its ability to exploit the natural resources it possesses… [then it] “There is a serious risk that the Chinese Communist Party will become dependent on China for energy while continuing to abuse the environment,” they said.
China, the world’s most populous country, emits by far the most CO2, more than twice as much as the United States, according to the latest data from the Global Atmospheric Survey Emissions Database.
The report’s authors called on the United States to significantly recalibrate its policies to combat climate change.
This includes prioritizing U.S. energy independence, withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, investigating the sources of revenue from U.S. environmental groups, increasing oversight of Chinese companies investing in the U.S., and cooperating with China on climate change. This includes strengthening a skeptical attitude toward the future.
“While the United States is actively contributing to China’s advantages in green energy, it has not been able to capitalize on China’s challenges in this area,” the study said.
“[China’s] Domination is not inevitable, but the United States must act now to prevent it and free itself from China’s self-imposed handcuffs. ”
