China’s Global Times newspaper ran in an op-ed May 9, in which author Lu Xue both dismissed Europe’s climate change heroine Greta Thunberg as an ignorant “puppet” of imperialist interests, and dismissed climate change demands on China from the likes of the World Economic Forum and the Biden Administration. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1223004.shtml
The op-ed says “Thunberg, who at age 15 started skipping school on Fridays for her climate protests, is merely 18 years old this year. She is short of sufficient academic knowledge study, and lacks sound self-judgment capability. A girl like her is prone to be affected or even manipulated by some political forces. Li [Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University] said, in a bid to achieve their political intents, some Western political forces manipulate teenagers, treating Thunberg as a political puppet. This practice is unethical and despicable.”
Returning to its powerful editorial of April 18 which called zero-carbon demands an attack on the right of developing countries to develop, Lu Xue wrote: “If developed countries only focus on the current [greenhouse gas emissions] figure and pile pressure on developing countries to limit their emissions of greenhouse gases, it is to restrict the right of developing countries to further development.
“During their prior period of rapid development, developed countries emitted huge amounts of greenhouse gases without any penalty and restriction. When many developing countries including China are speeding up their development, developed countries are trying every means to limit developing countries’ greenhouse gas emissions. This practice is unfair and unjust. In terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, climate justice and equality must be underlined.”
Thunberg, sounding like a less-informed Barack Obama, had responded to CNN’s insistence “China’s annual emissions exceeded those of all developed nations combined in 2019, the first time this has happened since national greenhouse gas emissions have been measured, according to a new report. https://cnn.it/3baiVDI” on Twitter May 7 that: “Yes, China is still categorized as a developing nation by WTO, they manufacture a lot of our products and so on. But that’s of course no excuse for ruining future and present living conditions. We can’t solve the climate crisis unless China drastically changes course.” https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1390676195352719364
