China said yesterday it was committed to fighting climate change but insisted its economic development must come first and that rich nations should shoulder the main burden.
Unveiling its first national strategy report for tackling global warming, China said it would not commit to any caps on greenhouse gas emissions as this would curb the nation's economic boom.
"The consequences of restricting the development of developing nations will be much more serious than the consequences of global warming," Ma Kai (
The report emphasized that China only had a "limited capacity to tackle climate change" because of its huge population, its status as a developing nation and the high percentage of coal in the nation's energy mix.
Nevertheless, Ma said China was genuinely commited to combating global warming and green groups cautiously welcomed the new plan, even though it was mainly a compilation of previously announced policies.
Ma said China's top priorities were to make its economy more energy efficient and to place a greater focus on its environment.
"This process itself will be part of China's contribution to the world's sustainable development and to global efforts to address climate changes," he said.
Chief among the important planks of the strategy, China will boost its energy efficiency -- measured in the amount of energy used per unit of GDP -- by 20 percent by 2010.
The percentage of renewables in China's energy mix will also rise from about 7 percent to 10 percent in 2010.
China will further endeavor to increase its forest cover so that trees soak up more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Environmental groups Greenpeace and WWF agreed that China's action plan was an important step forward because for the first time it set out a comprehensive global warming strategy for the world's most populous nation.
"The Chinese government has set a responsible and positive example for other countries ... to increase energy consumption efficiency and explore a low-carbon development path," WWF International director general James Leape said.
Also see story:
Minister tells schools to save more energy
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS