John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua are seen as uniquely capable of getting the U.S. and China to cooperate on climate change. But when it comes to the world’s two biggest emitters, a rivalry might be just as useful.
Illustration by Luis Grañena
Listen to SupChina editor-at-large and Sinica podcast host Kaiser Kuo read this article.
Xie Zhenhua was supposed to retire long ago, but every time the Chinese bureaucrat tried to leave government service, something blocked his exit. In 2015, he tried to step down as China’s lead climate negotiator before the Paris Climate Change Conference, but he was reinstated just a few months later. Given his impressive career helping shape China’s environmental policy, he was seen as crucial to reaching a deal. So, the pudgy, bespectacled Tianjin native went to work as China’s top climate official, and the relationship he cultivated with Todd Stern, the lead U.S. negotiator in Paris, played a key role in making the agreement a reality.
After Paris, Xie once again thought he was done. He took an academic gig running an environmental institute at his alma mater, Tsinghua University, hoping to influence climate policy from the sidelines. But Beijing pulled him back into the action.
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
A long line of multinationals are now knocking on India's door. But if there's any chance of them successfully diversifying away from China's highly skilled workforce and well-oiled logistical machine, they'll need to learn from the industries that came before them.
The former Defense Secretary under George W. Bush and Barack Obama talks about Xi Jinping's relations with the PLA, Taiwan and how the U.S. should deal with China and Russia.
The Global Intelligence Platform used by The Wire China
