BEIJING—Criticism of China’s high levels of emissions is
unfair and unscientific, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, adding the 2008
Olympics host should not be pushed to take on responsibilities beyond its
capacity.
Climate change was one of many subjects raised at a news
conference given by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who also denounced critics of
Beijing’s right to hold the Olympics and of its record on human rights.
China is set to surpass the United States as the world’s top
emitter of carbon dioxide, but says it will not agree to fixed caps on its
emissions and that the burden in fighting climate change should fall on rich
countries.
"Climate change is mainly attributable to the long-term
emissions by developed countries in the past and their current high per capita
emissions," Yang told a news conference at China’s annual session of parliament.
"It’s like there is one person who eats three slices of bread
for breakfast, and there are three of them who eat only one slice. Who should be
on a diet?"
Yang reiterated China’s support of a hard-won agreement in
Bali late last year to launch negotiations on a new pact to fight global
warming, but warned that in the coming period, its emissions would "inevitably
increase" as it grows wealthier.
He also said "transfer emissions" – the environmental costs
of products produced in one country and then exported to another – should be
considered in climate change calculations.
"I hope when people use high-quality, yet inexpensive Chinese
products, they will also remember that China is under increasing pressure of
transfer emissions," Yang said.
"One should not look only at the aggregate, but not the per
capita level, at the present, not history, or only production and not
consumption, because this is not fair to anyone and it is not scientific
either."
China has been the subject of pressure to take a larger role
diplomatically to match its weight as the world’s fourth-largest economy, but is
also the object of fears about its growing might and hunger for natural
resources.
Yang repeated that China sticks to a path of peaceful
development and, wary of the use of sanctions or intervention internationally,
urged negotiation and communication as the basis for resolving conflicts.
He defended China’s right to host the Olympics, said the air
would be clean for the Games, and denounced those groups who called for a
boycott.
"For those people who want to tarnish the image of China, they will never get
their way, because what they are doing is opposed by people in China and people
around the world," he said.
