No country can tackle the world’s challenges alone: Climate change is one of the world's challenges, affecting the lives of millions and being the driving force behind poverty, hunger, inequality, and food insecurity—the list is unfortunately long. Today, we learned that China has cancelled or suspended dialogue with the United States on a variety of issues ranging from climate change to military relations in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
The measures, which come amid deteriorating relations between Beijing and Washington, are the latest in a promised series of steps aimed at punishing the United States for allowing the visit to the island it claims as its own territory, which it intends to annex by force if necessary.
China began threatening military exercises off Taiwan's coasts on Thursday, which it says will last until Sunday.
According to state media, missiles were also fired over Taiwan. Tourists gathered on the Chinese coast across from Taiwan on Friday to try to catch a glimpse of any military aircraft heading toward the exercise area.
The Foreign Ministry announced that talks between US and Chinese regional commanders and defence department heads, as well as talks on military maritime safety, would be cancelled.
According to the ministry, cooperation on returning undocumented immigrants, criminal investigations, transnational crime, illegal drugs, and climate change will be suspended.
Dialogue and exchanges between China and the United States have generally been halting at best, particularly on military and economic matters. Climate change and the fight against the illegal drug trade, such as fentanyl, were areas where they had found a common cause, and Beijing's suspension of cooperation could have serious consequences for efforts to make progress on those issues.
