File photo shows the national flags of China (R) and the United States as well as the flag of Washington DC on the Constitution Avenue in Washington, capital of the United States. [Photo/Xinhua] Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1979, Sino-US climate diplomacy has experienced many ups and downs. It reached a flashpoint during the Barack Obama administration, and then hit a low during the Donald Trump administration, which abandoned many of Obama's policies apart from pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement. Initially, the Joe Biden administration revived hopes of resuming Sino-US climate cooperation, but those hopes have not materialized. So it's time the US and China resumed their climate talks. Many countries across the world experienced frequent extreme weather and natural disasters in the summer, indicating that it is becoming increasingly difficult to tackle climate change. The Sixth Assessment Report the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in April says the interaction between climate change, ecosystems and human society is mainly negative and harmful. This means human beings face greater climate risks. First, climate change poses a bigger risk to human survival, and global warming is increasingly influencing weather patterns, causing frequent heat waves, heavy downpours and droughts in many parts of the world, which are worsening global food insecurity. In fact, by June 2022, the number of people suffering from acute food insecurity in 82 countries increased to 345 million from 135 million in 2019. These developments are bound to have a negative impact on both China and the US. The Biden administration has pledged to elevate the fight against climate change as a "national policy" and restore the US' leadership in global climate governance. As for China, it should make efforts to meet its climate action targets of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and realizing carbon neutrality...

The COP27 climate summit in Egypt is approaching, bringing representatives from all around the world to discuss global objectives for addressing the greatest challenge of our time: climate change. Pakistan is one of the countries most impacted by long-term changes in temperatures and weather patterns. At the largest international conference on the subject, it has to make a stronger case for climate justice. Pakistan contributes modestly to overall global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—among the lowest in the world. Yet, it is one of the countries most vulnerable to extreme fluctuations and, currently, lacks the technical and financial capacity to adapt to the detrimental impact caused by climate catastrophes. In a press conference, the Ministry of Climate Change (MOCC) disclosed distressing information about the effects of long-term changes in temperatures and weather on Pakistan, which produces less than 1% of global carbon emissions. The country has had 152 extreme occurrences during the past 20 years, many of which have been brought on by climate change, including the most recent devastating floods. According to the government, the frequency of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) has increased by 300% in just one year. Pakistan has had the hottest cities in the world for three years running, and the frequency of high-intensity heat waves has climbed to 41 days per year. According to the estimates provided by the government, the country will probably experience absolute water scarcity by 2025, or three years from now. Food insecurity is also anticipated to increase from 40% to 60% by 2050, in addition to a lack of water. However, the estimated 2 to 3-foot rise in sea level along the coast poses a threat to the very life of cities like Thatta, Badin, and Karachi, the nation’s most populous metropolis, and is expected to cause a threefold increase in climate-induced migration from 0.7 million to 2 million by 2050. Given the plethora of climate change-related...

Asia is the world’s largest continent both in terms of size and population. It has two highly populated countries in  the world, China and India, and the three largest economies of the world – China, Japan, and India – also reside in this continent. Asia is also emerging as one of the world’s largest consumer markets due to  its population. For many decades, it has been the  most volatile continent of the world because of various regional conflicts that kept surfacing mainly for territorial reasons. Once again, Asia is becoming a focal point of global attention as the two super powers, US and China, have conflicting positions on the Taiwan issue; China considers it  an integral part of the country, while the US defends it as an independent country. These two opposite views have long been a point of contention between the  countries, and more recently, they have  caused them to experience significant tension. Furthermore, there have been grave concerns of a possible outbreak of war between the USA and China ever since Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker of the USA, decided to visit Taiwan despite warnings from China that it would resort to military action if Pelosi dared to go. Nancy Pelosi has a history of being an unrelenting critique of China’s policy in dealing with Human Rights issues since  she was a junior House member. She is known for unfurling a pro-democracy banner right at the Tiananmen Square in China, where local protestors had been executed two years prior  by the Chinese government. Right before Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, a well-known political analyst of USA, Thomas L. Friedman, made these remarks in his column, “I have a lot of respect for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But if she does go ahead with a visit to Taiwan this week, against President Biden’s wishes, she will be doing something that is utterly reckless, dangerous and irresponsible.” Pelosi remained undeterred and went ahead with her plans to visit Taiwan on 2 August, 2022, despite...

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Beijing on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022, during which the two leaders decided to enhance their strategic alliance and multilateral cooperation in several areas, including the CPEC. They “exchanged views on regional and international developments and broad-based cooperation in economy and investment.” They also expressed their willingness to deepen the all-weather strategic cooperation alliance between the countries. President Xi stated that China and Pakistan should push the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) more effectively and expedite the infrastructure development for the Gwadar Sea Port. China, according to Xi, will continue to help Pakistan’s efforts to realize its potential as a geo-economic hub and expand its economy sustainably. In addition, he announced a new aid package worth RMB 500 million was also announced for Pakistan’s post-flood relief and rehabilitation activities. Prime Minister Shehbaz strongly reiterated the significance of bilateral friendship for regional peace and stability as well as the special historical ties between the two countries. He said that Pakistan drew inspiration from China’s socio-economic development and admired President Xi’s leadership for China’s prosperity and his vision for developing the bilateral relationships. He also expressed his gratitude for China’s constant support for Pakistan’s relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction efforts following the destruction brought on by the nation’s catastrophic floods. Furthermore, the two leaders reached an understanding that, as a project of strategic importance, both parties will work together to launch ML-1 as an early harvest project inside the CPEC framework. They agreed to complete all the documentation required for the early opening of the Karachi Circular Railway and acknowledged the need for a public transportation project in Karachi. Several agreements covering a wide range of...

Isn’t it a shame that a nuclear-armed country with 220 million people is running a trade deficit with a conflict-battered neighbour next door? It must indeed be a matter of shame. Let us look at the latest figures: Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan in September numbered around $80 million. The imports from there clocked at $125 million. The total bilateral trade in September 2021 stood at around $1.83 billion. Pakistan exported about $859 million worth of goods and its imports were registered at around $976 million. So the balance of trade has tilted in favour of a country that is under international sanctions and has been through four decades of war. Higher coal imports from Afghanistan since early this year notwithstanding, the history of bilateral as well as the Afghan transit trade via Pakistan has been chequered, at best — largely because of a cold-blooded bureaucracy, security-centric approaches, and rampant corruption from Karachi to the borders such as Torkham, Chaman and Ghulam Khan. Through its short-sighted arm-twisting instinct — and to curb corruption within Pakistan — the predatory bureaucracy has denied the country opportunities of investment by big Afghan traders, even if those staying here on long-term visas are unable to open and operate bank accounts. These potential investments moved mostly to the UAE and Turkey. This also implies a loss of investments and employment opportunities for Pakistanis. The FBR and security agencies devised mechanisms to curb corruption on Pakistani soil but it hurts a lot of genuine Afghan traders. Abuse of transit trade is one thing but punishing Afghan exporters and importers through oscillating and whimsical tariffs under various pretexts is an altogether different bitter reality. Afghan traders and investors either have ownership, partnership or shareholding in at least 350 industrial units in Pakistan. The produce of even these units often encounters administrative hurdles — mainly for extraction by officials...