Beijing — The world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are sparring on Twitter over climate policy, with China questioning whether the U.S. can deliver on the landmark climate legislation signed into law by President Biden Tuesday.”You can bet America will meet our commitments,” U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns tweeted in response on Wednesday, using a national flag emoticon for “America.” He called on China to resume suspended climate talks, writing: “We’re ready.” The punchy exchange, part of a longer back and forth on Twitter, is emblematic of a broader worry: U.S.-China cooperation is widely considered vital to the success of global efforts to curb rising temperatures. With the breakdown in relations over Taiwan and other issues, some question whether the two sides can cooperate.
After Congress passed the climate bill last Friday, Burns took to Twitter over the weekend to say the U.S. was acting on climate change with its largest investment ever – and that China should follow. On Tuesday night, China’s Foreign Ministry responded with its own tweet: “Good to hear. But what matters is: Can the U.S. deliver?”
The verbal skirmish grew out of China’s suspension of talks with the U.S. on climate and several other issues earlier this month as part of its protest over a visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Climate has been one of the few areas of cooperation between the feuding countries. U.S. officials criticized China’s move, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying it “doesn’t punish the United States – it punishes the world.” Asked to respond, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian called on the U.S. last week to “del …