Mr Obama met Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Prime Minister, tonight in attempt to repair relations after Mr Wen had taken offence at his insistence on the need for reliable monitoring of every country’s emissions. In his speech Mr Obama said: “Without any accountability, any agreement would be empty words on a page.”
Mr Wen apparently interpreted this as an attempt to subject China to external scrutiny, despite Mr Obama’s insistence that the monitoring system would respect national sovereignty.
Our president recognizes the obvious. China will cheat. Allow me to quote myself about how China would meet its emission targets:
No real actions to reduce emissions are taken. The day before the annual report is due, a bureaucrat somewhere within the Chinese government fills out a form showing that China not only met its goal, but exceeded the goal by 5%. Meanwhile, a statement by the propaganda minister is prepared for publication in China's government run newspapers heralding this great success and scolding the corrupt West for falling short.
Boo hoo if the Chinese official is offended. I fully expect the USA's leadership to cave on this point, but at least someone made it.
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