Chinese officials on Friday slammed Donald Trump’s climate plan, the second time this week the country has lashed out against the Republican presidential nominee.
“If Trump were to insist on doing things his own way, then he would pay a heavy price both politically and diplomatically,” said Zou Ji, the deputy director of the National Centre for Climate Change Strategy, Reuters reports.
{mosads}”The U.S. would suffer the greatest harm and of course, the rest of the world would also be implicated.”
Trump has said he wants to end the international climate change agreement reached in Paris last year if he wins next week’s presidential election.
The deal formally took effect on Friday, so Trump can’t “cancel” it, as he’s promised. But he can ignore the climate goals set by President Obama, a step that could undermine the agreement.
Obama worked with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the climate deal, ensuring that the world’s two largest polluters would agree to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of the agreement.
China’s top climate change envoy on Tuesday rebuked Trump’s call to cancel the agreement, saying, “If they resist this trend, I don’t think they’ll win the support of their people, and their country’s economic and social progress will also be affected.”
The duel comments about Trump this week were rare for Chinese officials, who do not usually comment on foreign elections.