China defends Copenhagen approach15: 51 14/03/2010, Tania Branigan, Jonathan Watts, Business, China, climate change, coins, environment, guardian.co.u

China defends Copenhagen approach15: 51 14/03/2010, Tania Branigan, Jonathan Watts, Business, China, climate change, coins, environment, guardian.co.uk, news, world news, Guardian Unlimited

Wen Jiabao warns U.S. defend the currency and China's place on the world stage, saying his conscience is clear on climate change agreement

The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, today launched a strong defense of his country's place on the world stage, including a strong response to what he called "incomprehensible" the criticism of his country's role in the Copenhagen summit.

Acknowledging "serious disturbances" in relations with the U.S. and increasing criticism of the relevance of China on climate, currency, trade and other issues, the prime minister said he wanted to clarify things.

"Some say that China has more arrogant and hard. Some raised the theses of triumphalism in China called". You have given me the opportunity to explain how China sees itself, "said Wen.

In a press conference marking the end of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament, Wen said the country was still under development and will never seek hegemony even when fully upgraded but has always sought to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said China was a "responsible" who took active part in international cooperation on important issues.

After the anger of the Copenhagen conference on climate, China was accused of breaking an agreement by blocking the emission reduction targets for 2050 and not send its most high-level delegates from key meetings. In his most detailed public comments about the conference, Wen responded to the criticism.

"My conscience is clean despite the rumors and slander from outside," he said. "It still baffles me why some people are trying to make the issue about changing China. Climate is about human survival, the interest of all countries, and issues of equity and justice in the international community."

Foreign leaders accused of a scandalous violation of protocol in its attempt to pressure him with notice, in an unscheduled meeting after a welcoming banquet. "Why China was not notified of this meeting? So far, nobody has explained.'s Still a mystery to me," he said.

The final agreement was the best that could be achieved in difficult circumstances, he said, and pledged China's support for the Copenhagen agreement.

Asked about other areas of friction, particularly with the U.S., the prime minister replied: "The responsibility for the serious disruptions in US-China relations is not with China, but with the U.S.. UU. ".

He cited the recent meeting of Barack Obama with the Dalai Lama, the announcement of the sale of U.S. arms Taiwan and disagreements over the exchange rates and trade. "We oppose the practice of engaging in mutual finger-pointing or taking strong measures to force other countries to appreciate their currencies. That's not in the interest of the reform of RMB exchange rate," the first minister.

There is growing pressure for revaluation of the U.S. and Europe, where many analysts argue that the RMB is massively undervalued. Chinese experts have also argued that an increase in the currency would be in the interest of the country.

Wen told reporters: "I understand that some countries want to increase its exports - which do not understand is the practice of currency depreciation of yourself and try to pressure other countries to increase theirs, only to improve exports. In my opinion, it is a protectionist measure.

He came to warn the U.S. in its own currency, as he did in his last press conference. China maintains the U.S. Treasury debt more than any other country.

"If I said I was concerned [about the U.S. dollar] last year, I still make the same point this year," he said. "We can not make any mistakes, however slight, in the case of financial assets ... I hope that the U.S. take concrete steps to reassure investors.

With regard to domestic affairs, the prime minister warned that China faces "an extremely difficult task" to promote steady and rapid growth while restructuring the economy and inflationary expectations management. Inflation, corruption and unjust distribution of income together would be "strong enough to affect social stability and even the stability of state power," he said.

The government is trying to gradually phase out the massive stimulus helped to see China through the world depression, particularly due to rising property prices and rising inflation, which reached 2.7% in year to February. But it must do so without damaging the trust.

The prime minister warned of the risk of a double dip into the world economy and said that although the economy had stabilized, many Chinese companies still dependent on incentives.

China
Currencies
Climate change
Tania Branigan
Jonathan Watts


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