John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, is torn.
On the one hand, he said this week that the United States has a duty to speak out against China’s human rights abuses, including its genocide of the Uyghurs. Then again, Kerry added, the U.S. can’t allow crimes against humanity to stand in the way of collaborating with China to fight climate change.
Choices! Choices!
Kerry’s remarks came this week amid a broader discussion with Bloomberg’s David Westin.
“Is there any prospect of the United States and China agreeing together on some mutual pact about reducing or eventually eliminating the use of coal?” asked Westin.
Interjected Kerry, “I think that would be great. I think it would be great if we could do that, David, and we have certainly talked about it over the last eight months.”
“Another issue related to China,” continued Westin, “is importing of solar panels. Because, clearly, a priority of the Biden administration is really addressing climate, but it’s not the only priority. There are other things as well, such as the Uyghurs situation in the west. What is the process by which one trades off climate against human rights? “
Kerry paused for a hot moment to ponder.
“Life is always full of tough choices in the relationship between nations,” he eventually said. “Ronald Reagan thought the Soviet Union was the ‘Evil Empire’ and continually directed a lot of energy at getting the Soviet Union to change. He then went to Reykjavik, met with Gorbachev, and decided together — two human beings, two men got together and said, ‘You know what? This doesn’t make sense that we are aiming 50,000 warheads at each other, that we are always on the brink of potential conflict.’ And so they turned that around.”
Kerry added, “But the point I am making is that even as there were egregious human rights issues, which Ronald Reagan called them out on, we have to find a way forward to make the world safer, to protect our countries, and act in our interests.”
Sure, we have differences with China, he continued, but saving the planet takes precedence over all of that.
“First and foremost,” said Kerry, “this planet must be protected. We all need to do that for our people. … [China] care about clean air, clean water. They want a planet that is respected and that they can look to for future generations. And they need that as much as we do.”
Kerry’s remarks this week are reminiscent of what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week when she argued the U.S. must work together with the regime to fight climate change even if the regime is actively committing genocide against its own people.
“With their military aggression in the South China Sea,” the congresswoman said, “with their continuation of genocide with the Uyghurs in Xinxiang province there, with their violation of the cultural, linguistic, religious priority of Tibet, with their suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and other parts of China as well, they’re just getting worse in terms of suppression and freedom of speech.”
“Having said all of that,” she added, “we have to work together on climate. Climate is an overriding issue. And China is a leading emitter in the world, U.S., too. Developed world, too. But we must work together. So, we have to have a level of communication on whether it’s [COVID-19], whether it’s terrorism, whether it’s climate. We still have to have some communication and dialogue with China on that.”
It’s probably a small comfort for the Uyghurs to know the world’s leading superpower, the supposed champion of freedom and human rights, plans to do exactly nothing to alleviate their suffering so long as their captors commit to reducing carbon emissions.
