BEIJING: Beijing vowed Friday to uphold the Paris climate accord after the United States withdrew from the pact, saying it was a “responsibility shouldered by China as a responsible major country.”
“We think the Paris accord reflects the widest agreement of the international community with regards to climate change, and parties should cherish this hard-won outcome,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
“We also hear that our actions and leading role are applauded by the international community,” Hua told reporters. “We will earnestly implement our obligations.”
Hua spoke in Beijing as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels where the two sides were expected to adopt a joint statement stressing their commitment to the Paris deal.
Hua said China wants to strengthen cooperation with various parties to “push for the follow-up negotiations on the articles of the agreement and promote low-carbon green development.”
Despite Washington’s withdrawal from the agreement, Hua said: “We also stand ready to cooperate with the international community members including the US to push forward green, low-carbon development globally.”
President Donald Trump caused international consternation on Thursday when he announced the United States was ditching the agreement, arguing that it was too lenient on China, India and Europe.
China and the US, the world’s first and second biggest polluters respectively, are together responsible for some 40 percent of the world’s emissions and experts had warned it is vital for both to remain in the Paris agreement if it is to have any chance of succeeding.
But China has also been investing billions in clean energy infrastructure, as its leaders battle to clear up the notorious choking pollution that envelops its biggest cities, including Beijing.
Hua said the Chinese government will take “concrete action” in response to climate change.
“This is a responsibility shouldered by China as a responsible major country and what China’s development calls for,” she said.
China’s official Xinhua news agency published a commentary earlier saying that Washington’s withdrawal was a “global setback.”
“Trump’s decision to ditch the Paris deal will leave a fairly big shoe for a single country to fill,” Xinhua wrote.
“But other major players including the European Union, China and India have reiterated their willingness to step up efforts in the face of the US change of heart over the landmark deal,” it said.
![]()
China vows to uphold climate pact after US pullout
China vows to uphold climate pact after US pullout
Burkina jihadist attacks on army leave at least 10 dead
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast: Suspected Islamist militants attacked an army unit in northern Burkina Faso Sunday, the latest in a series of alleged jihadist attacks that have killed at least 10 people in four days, security sources told AFP.
The west African country, ruled by a military junta since a 2022 coup, has been plagued with violence from militants allied to Al-Qaeda or the Daesh group for more than a decade.
Social media has been awash with speculation that the spate of attacks may have killed dozens of soldiers, but AFP has been unable to independently verify those claims.
The junta, which seized power on the promise to crack down on the violence, has ceased to communicate on jihadist attacks.
On Sunday, militants carried out a major attack on a military detachment in the northern town of Nare, two security sources told AFP.
The previous day, the Burkinabe army’s unit in the northern city of Titao was “targeted by a group of several hundred terrorists,” one of the sources said.
While the source did not give a death toll for either attack, they said part of the military base in Titao had been destroyed.
The interior minister of Ghana, which borders Burkina Faso to the south, said the government had “received disturbing information from Burkina Faso of a truck carrying tomato traders from Ghana which was caught in a terrorist attack in Titao.”
Jihadist ‘coordination’
According to the same security source, another army base in Tandjari, in the east of the country, was also attacked Saturday, and several officers killed.
“This series of attacks is not a coincidence,” the source said. “There seems to be coordination among the jihadists.”
A separate security source told AFP that a “terrorist group attacked the (military) detachment in Bilanga,” in the east of the country, on Thursday.
“Much of the detachment was ransacked,” the source said, giving a toll of “about 10 deaths” among the soldiers and civilian volunteers fighting alongside the army.
A local source confirmed the attack, adding there was damage in the town of Bilanga, and that the assailants had stayed at the scene until the following day.
Despite the junta’s vow to restore security, Burkina Faso remains caught in a spiral of violence.
According to conflict monitor ACLED, the unrest has killed tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers since 2015 — and more than half of those deaths have come in the past three years.
The west African country, ruled by a military junta since a 2022 coup, has been plagued with violence from militants allied to Al-Qaeda or the Daesh group for more than a decade.
Social media has been awash with speculation that the spate of attacks may have killed dozens of soldiers, but AFP has been unable to independently verify those claims.
The junta, which seized power on the promise to crack down on the violence, has ceased to communicate on jihadist attacks.
On Sunday, militants carried out a major attack on a military detachment in the northern town of Nare, two security sources told AFP.
The previous day, the Burkinabe army’s unit in the northern city of Titao was “targeted by a group of several hundred terrorists,” one of the sources said.
While the source did not give a death toll for either attack, they said part of the military base in Titao had been destroyed.
The interior minister of Ghana, which borders Burkina Faso to the south, said the government had “received disturbing information from Burkina Faso of a truck carrying tomato traders from Ghana which was caught in a terrorist attack in Titao.”
Jihadist ‘coordination’
According to the same security source, another army base in Tandjari, in the east of the country, was also attacked Saturday, and several officers killed.
“This series of attacks is not a coincidence,” the source said. “There seems to be coordination among the jihadists.”
A separate security source told AFP that a “terrorist group attacked the (military) detachment in Bilanga,” in the east of the country, on Thursday.
“Much of the detachment was ransacked,” the source said, giving a toll of “about 10 deaths” among the soldiers and civilian volunteers fighting alongside the army.
A local source confirmed the attack, adding there was damage in the town of Bilanga, and that the assailants had stayed at the scene until the following day.
Despite the junta’s vow to restore security, Burkina Faso remains caught in a spiral of violence.
According to conflict monitor ACLED, the unrest has killed tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers since 2015 — and more than half of those deaths have come in the past three years.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.