The Age characterises it as “the heat” being put on Kevin Rudd. The Courier Mail sees it as just part of the transformation of Queensland into the “leadership heartland”. In fact, the enthusiasm of the new Rudd government for Kyoto and the pressure this subjects it to from other nations puts it in the way of some large traps.
Rudd seems pretty pleased that he spent 20 minutes talking to Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiaobo in Mandarin about the Kyoto negotiations going on in Bali. He should be careful that he’s not swapping the role of Deputy Sheriff for South Pacific Mandarinette.
Kyoto is as much about international economic relations as it is about global warming. As the largest mercantilist economy in the world, China, more than most, will be using the negotiations to try to enhance its economic position. Insisting that countries like Australia, which compete with China in things like the manufacture of aluminium, make large cuts in greenhouse emissions, while the Chinese make none, is a better way than tariff protection of ensuring that first world industries migrate to China.
Rudd said that he wouldn’t be party to a successor to Kyoto that didn’t mandate cuts for the developing world. Let’s hope he holds to his promise. Spending his time speaking Mandarin to Chinese officials sends the message that he is eager to please. Hopefully he’s not too eager. China might be an economic powerhouse, but it is still a one-party state, that supresses dissent and regularly commits human rights attrocities. There are a lot of other frameworks that they need to come within, not just Kyoto.