Those scoring the undercard match between the U.S. and China at the U.N. conference on climate change in Bali would have given it to China on points.
Beijing scored for being seen to be a constructive participant whereas Washington was seen as obstructive. China’s media has been playing up U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s comments about how China has sent a positive signal to the world over climate change. As such Beijing emerged as a leading spokesman for developing countries, especially the fast emerging economies such as itself, Brazil, India and South Korea.

Beijing also saw off U.S. attempts, mainly for domestic consumption it should be noted, to portray the view that climate change is now really China’s fault, and thus China should be pressed into accepting binding numerical targets. The Bush administration, despite its volte face on climate change earlier this year, has no great appetite for binding targets for itself, but it certainly doesn’t want to have them imposed on it but not on China. Plus, the technology, voluntary targets and energy efficiency approach it is pushing promises future business for American companies that sell green and clean technologies, so it wants China and other developing nations to have a reason — and a deadline — to buy them.

This is all geopolitical power jockeying and doesn’t change any of the underlying facts: Per capita emissions in the U.S. in 2004 were about five times higher than China and 16 times higher than India’s. However, China may by now have overtaken the U.S. as the world’s largest total emitter because of its population size, rapid growth and reliance on coal to generate electricity.
And Beijing, too, has a domestic political agenda to be seen as green that goes beyond the environmental need to make the air breathable and the water drinkable. The leadership doesn’t want to cede a power vacuum around the issue into which a future possible rival could step.

source : unfcccbali.org