The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies were meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
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The U.S. and China have just shown that the new world order is one that works together on challenges- and no issue is more pressing than climate change.
In recent months, China has been incensed by a ruling against its claims in the South China Sea by an global court, a case initiated by Manila but blamed by Beijing on Washington.
Lawmakers of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress voted to adopt “the proposal to review and ratify the Paris Agreement”, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
“I am hopeful and optimistic that we can do it before the end of this year and before my term as Secretary-General of the United Nations ends”, Ban said.
“At the same time, it will persist in peacefully resolving disputes through consultations with parties directly involved”, Xi said, urging the United States to “play a constructive role” in the peace and stability of the region.
Obama said the United States welcomed China’s contributions to global development, peacekeeping and refugee assistance.
On Saturday night, Obama stressed “America’s unwavering support for upholding human rights” as well as the need for religious freedoms, according to a statement by the White House.
History would show that the Paris deal would “ultimately prove to be a turning point”, he said, “the moment we finally made a decision to save our planet”. The Chinese official continued yelling at Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, and her deputy, Ben Rhodes, while trying to block them from moving toward the front of the plane. But then they got down to more thorny issues.
During what might be the last trip to Asia during his term, Obama, who will meet on Saturday with his Chinese counterpart and host of the event, Xi Jinping, expects to reaffirm the change in foreign policy towards this continent under his presidency. “We’re also setting the stage so that the next USA administration comes in with a relationship that is on a strong and productive footing”, Obama told Xi.
Xi, speaking before the meeting, said China wanted no confrontation with the USA and hoped to maintain a sustainable relationship.
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“Today’s announcement is the strongest signal yet that what we agreed in Paris, will soon have the force of law”, said Mattlan Zackhras, Minister-in-Assistance to the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which face the threat of climate-change induced sea-level rise.
