U.S. Climate Negotiator "Extremely Irresponsible"

China has rebuked a U.S. climate envoy's speech as "extremely irresponsible."

Earlier this week, U.S. climate envoy, Todd Stern, said his country's fund at helping developing nations deal with climate change would not go to China.

China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said it's a dangerous betrayal of a globally agreed principle that developed nations have the responsibility to help developing nations.

"I was shocked personally, I was shocked," He said.

As a leading country in the developing world, China has pledged to reduce its emissions intensity by 40 to 45 percent per unit of GDP by 2020 relative to its 2005 level. The U.S. target, by comparison, is only 17 to 20 percent.

He said, "I don't want to say the gentleman is ignorant, he's very well educated. I think he lacks common sense when he made such a comment with the funds for China. Either lack of common sense, or extremely irresponsible."

Under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, developed nations must take the lead in reducing their carbon emissions by a large margin, and also provide financial and technological support to the developing world.

He said, "When I emphasized here a few minutes ago saying developed countries need to deliver, to provide funds to the developing countries, it doesn't mean China's asking for money. We are saying this on behalf of the developing countries."

He Yafei also called on rich nations to deliver on their promises to cut carbon emissions. He emphasized that climate change is a matter of survival for developing nations.

The vice foreign minister said China has a responsible and pragmatic vision for tackling the problem, and will do its share in the fight against climate change.

Responding to rich nations' concerns over the transparency of China's voluntary action, he said plans for action will go through China's own legal process, and there will be a domestic regime to monitor, verify and provide statistical supervision to ensure transparency.

(CCTV.com December 12, 2009)