Beijing official on China's climate commitment

published: 2017-06-06 13:50:55(1 Jun 2017) China said on Thursday that it would work with the other countries to uphold the international agreement on climate change even if the US pulls out. US President Donald Trump is expected to announce his decision on whether to abandon the Paris climate accord on Thursday. While not mentioning the US by name, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters climate change is a “global challenge” that no country can ignore. At a regularly scheduled news conference on Thursday, Hua said China would continue to implement the Paris Agreement, “Nno matter what kind of changes are happening to the position of other countries”. In response to a speech of the US Republican Senator John McCain on Tuesday, who accused China of violating the international law by militarising artificial islands in the South China Sea, Hua said McCain’s remarks “mixed up different concepts in order to confuse the public”.

She said China is “practicing the right of self-defense ruled by the international law” by deploying defensive weapons in teh area over which China claims full sovereignty.