China’s position before the climate summit in Copenhagen is a balancing act. On the one hand, with near half the population still living under or near two dollars (PPP) per day hand China has legitimate development needs. On the other, there is an increasing concern among Chinese leaders for climate impacts, and also about a negative reputation as a result of China’s rapidly increasing carbon dioxide emissions. The most crucial issue in the climate negotiations is the Chinese-U.S. relations, where the ability to communicate better to the U.S. Senate what China is really doing to curb emissions could help unlocking a deal in Copenhagen.

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