What does the US-China row mean for climate change?

China is going all out to intimidate US support for Taiwan, even "breaking off" discussions on curbing global heating.

Not that China was cooperating very much anyway: it continues to build new coal-fired generating plants, and its target for (the weak goal of) "net zero" is 2060.

China has recently experienced disastrous floods and faces the danger of fatal weather in the North China Plain.

China's rulers are arrogant but not crazy. The only thing that can convince them to try hard to decarbonize is awareness of what will happen if they don't.

The US is also doing far too little to decarbonize, though the just-passed climate, welfare and tax law is a step forward.