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President Trump recently called out China for claiming the special privileges of a poor country

Is China a 'Developing' Country?



Is China a 'Developing' Country? One of the largest militaries in the world, space exploration, nuclear power plants and bombs, ICBMs, stealth fighters, aircraft carriers, one of the largest economies, colonizing many places, etc. This is China, a developing country! As a 'developing country,' China is demanding that the USA and other developed countries give China large sums of cash because the USA owes China and other developing countries for historic greenhouse gas contributions. 1 China has called on rich countries to 'pay their debts' on climate change at global talks, criticizing developed countries for not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide finance to help poor countries do the same. 2

Nothing like the world's largest emitter of CO2 demanding money to continue increasing their CO2 emissions because of climate change

Nothing like the world's largest emitter of CO2 demanding money to continue increasing their CO2 emissions because of climate change. If China is dominating the international economy, as you might conclude from headlines, why is it classified as 'developing' and why does it get special treatment? China is still considered a developing nation by the World Trade Organization (WTO), a status it received when it joined. This allows it to take on fewer commitments than developed countries. There is no official WTO classification as to which countries are 'developing.' This status is self-selected, based on politics more than law or economics, and can be contested. It is a controversial point that usually stays buried beneath the surface, but occasionally flares up into minor controversy.(3) In China's case it should be a major controversy. By declaring itself a developing country, China has been able to take on fewer commitments at the WTO. However, 17 years into its WTO membership, China has surged. China is the world's biggest economy in terms of purchasing power parity and 2nd biggest when looking at actual GDP. China also emits almost 30% of the total world emissions of CO2. China also has 45% of the world's skyscrapers. 3 How can anyone with a straight face say that China is a 'developing' country? President Trump recently called out China for claiming the special privileges of a poor country. As such, they get tremendous perks and advantages, especially over the USA. Does anybody think this is fair? China needs to step up and pull its economic weight. 3 References
  1. Eric Worrall, “China demands USA give money to China because of climate change,” wattsupwiththat.com, December 14, 2018
  2. Fiona Harvey and Ben Doherty, “China demands developed countries pay their debts on climate change,” The Guardian, December 13, 2018
  3. Simon Lester and Huan Zhu, “The WTO still considers China a 'developing nation.' Here's the poblem with that.” cnbc.com, April 25, 2018

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Jack Dini -- Bio and Archives

Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology.  He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.


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