cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/46447639

China’s propaganda is playing up the country’s response to climate change, aiming at presenting an image of global leadership, especially as the United States retreats from the field.

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Perceived Chinese climate leadership would be important, because it could encourage more countries to collaborate with and depend on China. It could also promote an authoritarian top-down model of environmental governance and green transition. Additionally, China’s strengthened global position in climate policy may pressure climate-vulnerable states—many of them Taiwan’s diplomatic partners—to yield to the one-China principle in exchange for Beijing’s support.

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In a report published in December by the Taipei-based Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology, Unveiling the Hidden Agenda Behind China’s Green Ambitions, we analysed 123 state media articles (72 in Chinese and 51 in English) on renewable energy technologies, climate cooperation and critical minerals mainly published after 2020. The report showed Beijing strengthening and developing its ability to shape narratives on climate governance by tailoring propaganda to suit different audiences and by embedding green policies within broader national narratives.

• Domestically, Chinese-language coverage of these topics has been more defensive, emphasising China’s notable role in the international community and signalling the regime’s legitimacy by showing that the government is doing its part. Internationally,
• English coverage demonstrates a more offensive and proactive approach, oftentimes targeting the US. For example, while China actively promotes its advanced position in obtaining critical minerals, the US is criticised for attempting to decouple from China’s critical-minerals supply chain while still wanting to maintain its leadership position.

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In particular, the report finds that Chinese-language coverage has largely focused on reiterating China’s green policies, which are embedded within broader national propaganda narratives that align with its foreign policy objectives. For instance, the terms ‘a community with a shared future for mankind’ and ‘Xi Jinping thought on ecological civilisation’ have been repeatedly found in different texts.

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There are also implications for Taiwan, as this positioning may create strong incentives for countries that rely on climate cooperation with China to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China under the one-China principle. Our research found many instances of references to the one-China principle appearing in diplomatic statements related to climate action.

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Since 2016, nine out of the 10 countries that have severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan and subsequently recognised China are all in the bottom 50 percent of the ND-GAIN Country Index, representing a high vulnerability to climate change and other global challenges. For example, when Kiribati switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019, Beijing stated its commitment to supporting Kiribati’s climate-adaptation capacity. We therefore infer that climate-related issues have become a notable area of emphasis in many of such countries’ bilateral agreements with Beijing.

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