In spite of being the world's largest greenhouse polluter in absolute terms, China likes to point out that given its massive population, its greenhouse gas emissions aren't anywhere near the U.S. when broken down on a per person basis. That's why when it came to making a commitment towards reducing carbon, China chose to go with a "carbon density" reduction rather than an overall reduction of carbon. This approach has been criticized by the U.S. as not doing enough to reverse the trend of ever increasing carbon emissions by China.

Last week, China struck back at the U.S. First, China's chief climate official, Xie Zhenhua, head of the Chinese delegation to the Copenhagen conference last year, issued a call for the U.S., as the world's most developed nation, to "do more" since its current commitments are "far short" of international treaty obligations and what developing countries demand. Specifically, he called on the U.S. to increase its commitment to providing financing and technology to fight climate change.

Then, towards the end of the week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gave a rare two-hour press conference at the end of a legislative session where he delivered a wide-ranging critique of U.S. trade and economic policy. Most of the media has focused on Wen's defense of currency policy and criticism of the U.S. handling of the economic recession, Wen also delivered some sharp remarks on climate change.

Wen used an old Chinese proverb, "my conscience is clear despite the slander of others," to defend allegations that he had snubbed President Obama at a sideline meeting at Copenhagen last year. He claims that he did not deliberately skip the meeting, but instead was not invited. "Why was China not notified of this meeting? So far no one has given us any explanation about it, and it is still a mystery," he told reporters. Instead of Wen, China sent a lower ranked official instead to the meeting, to protest China's lack of official invitation.

I think the WSJ got this story right by describing how it illustrates the "extreme sensitivity" among Chinese leaders about how China is viewed by the world. As a major economic player, China has much to contribute towards combating global warming, but it's unwilling to take on any international leadership role towards that effort. Criticism is a losing strategy too, as this episode sadly demonstrates.