EU, China to tackle climate change amid tensions

PRAGUE -- EU and Chinese leaders vowed today to tackle climate change together and boost trade -- but tensions over Tibet were still showing as China warned Europe not to interfere in its internal affairs.

Talks in Prague saw the European Union and China get back to talking business five months after the Chinese canceled an earlier summit because French President Nicolas Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama, the religious leader who Beijing accuses of seeking Tibetan independence from China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told reporters the two sides must "stick to the principles of mutual respect and noninterference in each other's internal affairs."

The EU countered that human rights would remain a key part of future talks with China. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the issue was "something that we in Europe consider extremely important."

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said both regions were determined to build relations and "make a real difference on the road to seal the (United Nations climate change) deal in Copenhagen by the end of the year" and to restarting World Trade Organization talks on a global trade agreement.

"We now need the clear engagement of all major economies to make the deal possible," he said, calling on China, the U.S. and others to clearly state how far they were ready to go to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Copenhagen talks aim to set new global targets for carbon dioxide cuts, replacing the U.N. Kyoto Protocol after it expires in 2012. Experts say emissions must peak in 2015 and then fall by half by 2050 to limit global warming.

Wen was supportive, saying China wanted "a positive outcome" from the negotiations.

"In spite of the international financial crisis, the international community must not waver in its resolve ... to address the climate," he said.

But he repeated Beijing's view that the brunt of the effort must be borne by richer nations such as the U.S. and the EU -- and not China which "still remains a developing country."

"China stands ready to work with the European Union," he said -- but tempered this by saying they should stick to "common but differentiated responsibility."

The two sides want concrete progress on reducing emissions and struck a deal to develop "clean coal" technology that would help China curb the carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations.

Wen tried to ease tensions over China's massive trade surplus with the EU -- its major export market -- by saying China would buy more EU imports and would send a business delegation on a multibillion shopping spree in recession-hit Europe.

While China may escape a recession this year, it will suffer from plunging exports to the U.S. and the 27-nation EU which bought some euro248 billion of Chinese goods last year -- dwarfing the EU's euro78.4 billion in exports to China.

Wen also called for the EU to "lift its arms embargo against China as early as possible."

Wen tried to assure the Europeans that they would not be shut out by China's growing role in world affairs. "Some say that the world affairs will be managed solely by China and the United States. That view is baseless and wrong," he said.

Wen was greeted by around a hundred Chinese citizens outside Prague castle, who waved Chinese and Czech flags and held banners saying "we love you, the Chinese people love you."

Wang Xin, a 28-year-old restaurant owner from the Czech town of Liberec, waved a banner saying 'Premier Wen, you must be tired!'

"He works so hard, always the first to be where something happens, he flies 12 hours to Prague to spend four hours with officials and then he flies back. He should take care of his health," said Wang, who shut the restaurant for the day to come and greet Wen.

Pro-Chinese demonstrations far outnumbered a small protest by members of the Falun Gong -- a spiritual movement that Beijing calls an evil cult.