Kerry to justify Biden policy on climate change

John Kerry, the special presidential envoy for climate, called on Wednesday to justify the Biden Administration's policy of getting China to cooperate in the climate change fight over addressing China's genocide of its Uyghur minority.

Well, life is always full of tough choices and the relationship between nations, replied Kerry.

The former secretary of state recalled when Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev met with former president Ronald Reagan at the Reykjav-k Summit in 1986, which eventually resulted in the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between both countries. Was Reagan really happy that the Soviet Union thought Reagan was evil Empire, and yet able to sit down at the table?

The point I m making is that even as there were egregious human rights issues, which Kerry called to them out on it, we must find a way forward to make the world safer, to protect our countries and act in our interests.

We can do and must do the same thing now, he continued. Yes, we have issues, a number of different issues, but first and foremost this planet must be protected. What human rights do the Chinese officials care about more than slavery, or Guyana concentration camps? Cruz tweeted it was absurd Wednesday.

Kerry made headlines Monday after it was reported he disclosed millions of dollars in Chinese investments held by his wife’s family trust.

Kerry's latest filing with the Office of Government Ethics OGE in March shows his wife benefits from an investment of at least $1 million in a hedge fund that specialises in Chinese government-controlled partnerships and investments with private funds, The Daily Mail reported.

Earlier this year, Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., asked Kerry whether he had discussed slavery with China's climate change envoy, prompting him to say: That's not my lane. My lane is very specifically to try and get the Chinese to move what we need to do with respect to climate itself. During the same House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Kerry admitted that obtaining solar panels from Xinjiang, China is a problem due to the forced labor reported in the area and said: Xinjiang Province not only produces some of the solar panels which we believe are being produced in some cases by Uighur s by forced labor, but also there are significant amounts of a certain rare earth mineral used in the solar panels themselves. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments about prioritizing the climate over China's ongoing genocide against Uyghur population echod those of Kerry, who said last week that opening a dialogue with China on climate change must take priority as the overriding issue. The situation with China is tightening, it is getting worse, said She at an event in Cambridge, England.

Pelosi, D-Calif. pointed to human rights abuses including the Uyghur genocide in Western China security threats and economic challenges China poses for the U.S. but said that issues were subsidiary compared to climate change.

With their military aggression in the South China SeaChina Sea, with their continuing genocide with the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province, with their violation of the cultural religious priority of Tibet, with their suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and other parts of China as well they re just getting worse in terms of suppression, the Speaker said.

Having said all of that, we must work together on climate, Pelosi added. Climate is an overriding issue, and China is a leading emitter in the world also, advanced world too, but we must work together. Which there must be a level of communication whether it's COVID, whether it is terrorism or climate.