http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2007/dec/07/120700832.htmlChina said Friday it will not consider mandatory cuts on greenhouse gases, saying the United States and other industrialized countries should take the lead in fighting climate change by embracing a less-extravagant lifestyle.
China, which some believed has surpassed the United States as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, also questioned the fairness of binding cuts when its per capita emissions are about one-sixth of those by the U.S.
It also noted that it's only been pumping pollutants into the atmosphere for the last few decades, whereas the West has done so for much longer.
"China is in the process of industrialization and there is a need for economic growth to meet the basic needs of the people and fight against poverty," said Su Wei, a member of the country's delegation at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali.
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