Endeavours to build global hope
Chinese premier’s 60 hours in Copenhagen :
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left Beijing for the climate summit in
Copenhagen, Denmark on Dec.16, when pessimism and disappointment were
simmering among negotiators, who, after about 10 days’ bargaining, found
a bridge to span their rift seemed a mission impossible.
“It will be a tough task. Now I can feel how heavy my duty is to
attend the meeting on behalf of the Chinese government,” Wen told
reporters aboard his plane en route to Copenhagen.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon |
Nevertheless, Wen said he was confident that the talks would bear
fruit. “As so many world leaders are gathered there, I believe there
should come some achievements,” he said. “No matter what the result is,
China’s action plan will not change, its voluntary reduction target will
always be non-negotiable, and its determination in hitting the target
will never waver.”
Premier Wen’s schedule on Dec.17 was almost fully occupied by
meetings with world leaders. During the meeting with Danish Prime
Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Wen suggested that in order to achieve an
outcome for the conference, all parties should stick to the consensus
they had reached while leaving differences for future negotiations. “Now
it seems to be the only way out. If we can reach a resolution of such a
kind, it could well be an achievement of the talks,” Wen said.
In his talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who expressed
that a fruitless conference would be unacceptable, Wen proposed to
formulate a political document that may reflect the consensus of
different parties.
“It is unrealistic to hope to fill in the gap between nearly 200
countries in less than two days. China and the people of the world all
wish for the success of the meeting, and the current priority is to
crystallize a consensus,” Wen said.
He told the UN chief it was important to fix on the political
aspiration to deliver confidence and hope to the world.
The drafting of the final document must be transparent while concerns
of different parties, especially developing countries, must be taken
into consideration, Wen stressed.
Wen’s talks with Ban was followed by the meeting with Brazilian
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. They agreed that the two major
developing countries must firmly stand with other developing countries
to safeguard their common interests. The Chinese premier’s meeting with
representatives of island countries and underdeveloped nations lasted
for over two hours, the longest during his stay in Copenhagen.
Wen said although China had always urged developed nations to fulfil
their funding commitments, China would not vie for even a cent with
other developing countries if such a fund were available.
In addition, China would continue to assist those countries to cope
with climate change, Wen told President of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed,
Prime Minister of Grenada Tillman Thomas, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Sudanese
Presidential Assistant Nafie Ali Nafie.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao |
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (3rd, R) poses for a group photo with
President of the Maldvies Mohammed Nasheed (3rd, L), Bangladeshi
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (2nd, L), Ethiopian Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi (2nd, R), Grenadian Prime Minister Tillman Thomas
(1st, R) and Sudanese Presidential Assistant Nafie Ali Nafie
(1st, L) ahead of their meeting in Copenhagen, capital of
Denmark, on Dec. 17, 2009. |
Wen’s whirlwind negotiations that afternoon involved British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
The three industrialized countries, though ambitious in leading
international cooperation on climate change issues, lacked understanding
of developing countries and had therefore raised some unrealistic and
unfair requests.
Once again, Wen urged all parties to stop pointing fingers at each
other or bargaining at the critical moment of the talks. He said China’s
commitment on mitigation actions is “unconditional and non-negotiable.”
It was not conditioned on or linked with commitments by any other
country, Wen said.
On the transparency issue in self mitigation actions, Wen said China
was willing to conduct talks and cooperation.
He stressed that developing countries’ major tasks in eradicating
poverty and developing economy should not compromise the environment.
But their development also required the developed world’s understanding
and support, both financially and in technology. After the meetings, Wen
immediately instructed Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei to hold a press
conference to brief the world media on the talks, a move to fulfil his
commitment to transparency.
MYSTERIOUS MEETING
At a banquet hosted by Danish Queen Margaret II on Dec.17 evening,
Premier Wen was told that the United States would hold a small-scope
meeting between several countries’ leaders after the dinner.
During his talk with a foreign leader, Premier Wen learnt China was
on the list of the meeting’s participating countries while he himself
was not invited and neither did the Chinese delegation receive a notice
for the mysterious meeting.
Why was the Chinese delegation not informed? Premier Wen felt quite
astonished and was vigilant after he confirmed the meeting with other
foreign leaders.
During the conference, similar situations occurred when some
countries proposed a draft resolution through clandestine negotiations,
which went against the principle of openness and transparency and
triggered strong discontent.
Premier Wen took the incident seriously and came back to his hotel
immediately to call an emergent meeting to study countermeasures for the
situation. On behalf of the Chinese delegation, Vice Foreign Minister He
Yafei came to the meeting and expressed strong dissatisfaction to the
convector’s ulterior motive for not informing China.
He said that the meeting should be transparent and no participants
should impose their will on others. Any scheme in darkness would
probably lead to a fruitless summit.
On the second morning of his stay in Copenhagen, hours before the
final summit segment of the UN climate change conference, Wen met with
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had just arrived. Both of the
leaders held that no matter what happened, the two countries should keep
in close touch and firmly defend the interests of developing countries.
At 9:45 a.m., Premier Wen arrived at the main venue of the
conference, 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled opening. However,
neither the host Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen nor the UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was present even at 10 a.m..
People were guessing what was the matter, but no one came to explain
the reason for the delay. Premier Wen made a prompt decision to propose
a meeting of the BASIC countries.
The leaders just sat around a tea table in the hall and began
exchanging views. It was until 11:30 that Rasmussen announced the
opening of the summit.
Premier Wen was the first to deliver a speech, titled “Build
Consensus and Strengthen Cooperation to Advance the Historical Process
of Combating Climate Change.” In the speech with 2,000-odd Chinese
characters, Wen made it clear that what China thought, did and would do
to cope with climate change. At the end of his speech, Wen made a
serious promise.
“It is with a sense of responsibility to the Chinese people and the
whole mankind that the Chinese government has set the target for
mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This is a voluntary action China
has taken in the light of its national circumstances. We have not
attached any condition to the target, nor have we linked it to the
target of any other country,” Wen said.
“We will honour our word with real action. Whatever outcome this
conference may produce, we will be fully committed to achieving and even
exceeding the target.”
Premier Wen’s speech won long-time applause at the conference venue.
Some foreign leaders congratulated Wen on his speech with
handshaking.
LAST MINUTE EFFORT
After US President Barack Obama’s speech, Premier Wen held talks with
him in a meeting room just behind the summit venue.
The two leaders agreed that the participating countries of the
conference should achieve a political resolution as soon as possible and
continue cooperation on climate change.
As soon as the talks ended, Wen asked members of the Chinese
delegation to inform the Group of 77 and other BASIC countries of the
Sino-American talks, aiming to speed up negotiations between developing
and developed countries.
Developing and developed countries discussed the final document, but
failed to make any progress as a result of divergence of views, even
when the Copenhagen climate change conference was scheduled to conclude
hours earlier.
Some countries were drafting announcement of the conference’s
possible failure, and certain foreign leaders even made irresponsible
criticism against China.
At the Bella Centre, the venue of the conference, journalists started
to pack luggage. People around the world were wondering how and when the
Danish government would declare failure of the largest and highest level
climate change conference ever in human history. It was Premier Wen who
played a key role in the last-minute attempt to exchange ideas and reach
consensus.
Wen believed that it was impossible to reach a legally binding
agreement at that time, while no country was willing to be responsible
for the failure if the conference yielded no result in the end. “As long
as there is hope of one percent, we should not give up and must instead
make 100 percent of effort,” he told the Chinese delegation.
Wen decided to meet other leaders of the BASIC countries again and
make a final attempt.
At the same time, President Obama said he wanted to have a second
meeting with Premier Wen. Wen agreed to meet him after the BASIC meeting
ended.
The BASIC countries leaders agreed that the Copenhagen conference
might fail and all-out efforts should be made to help achieve some
results.
They agreed to reach consensus on key issues first and then negotiate
with the United States and European countries on the basis of
safeguarding interests for the developing countries and with the highest
degree of flexibility.
Wen urged to keep contact and enhance cooperation with African
countries, the Group of 77 and small island states.
At 6:50 p.m., when the BASIC leaders were reviewing their final
common position, President Obama showed up, which was a bit of surprise
for those in the room although the scheduled time for the Sino-American
meeting was over.
Obama stopped with one foot outside the gate and asked Premier Wen
with smiles if he should wait outside or join the discussion.
Premier Wen stood up and politely invited Obama to join them. Obama
accepted and walked around the room to shake hands with all the people
present, before taking a seat to the left of Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva and opposite to Wen.
The BASIC leaders knew very well the US stance since they all met
respectively before.
Premier Wen said efforts should be made to adopt a resolution in
order to affirm the achievements of the meeting and build consensus. He
then made clear the position of BASIC countries on several key issues.
Obama briefed the leaders of BASIC countries about the latest
USstance, saying both sides were very close on the wording of these
issues, before the leaders of the five nations started the negotiations.
While the leaders were discussing, journalists were anxiously waiting
outside. Some of them even took photos through the window.
Applause were heard before long as the BASIC countries finally
reached agreement with the United States on the wording of some key
issues.
The United States said it was willing to consult with the European
Union.
The BASIC countries discussed with some other countries while the US
Europe talks went on. A few more countries reviewed the draft later.
An hour later, news came that the parties concerned agreed on the
draft and were ready to submit it for a voting at the conference. It was
already nine hours after the scheduled conclusion of the conference.
The achievement was a result of joint efforts by all the
participating countries other than out of the will of one or two
countries.
Copenhagen witnessed what a role China played in this complicated and
tough process.
There have been different interpretations on the outcome over the
past few days, but people have to recognize that international
cooperation to cope with climate change has moved a step ahead on the
right direction, through the joint efforts of the international
community.
It delivered hope and confidence to the world.
In this process, China showed the greatest sincerity, tried its best
and played a constructive part.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Wen said China would like to work
with other countries, with the Copenhagen talks as a new beginning, to
honour commitments, cooperate more closely and conclude the “Bali
Roadmap” negotiations at an early date.
He called for efforts to seek new progress from the international
cooperation on climate change and make due contributions to human
endeavour to deal with climate change.
BEIJING, Xinhua |