Green groups are China’s “useful idiots”
Western environmentalists are giving cover to Beijing says new report
London, 11 December: Western environmentalists are being controlled and used by the communist regime in China, states a new report from the Global Warming Policy Foundation.
According to author Patricia Adams, a long-time observer of the country, Beijing has coopted western environmental groups through a combination of sticks and carrots.
“Like all western NGOs, green groups are only allowed to operate in China so long as they bite their tongues and toe the party line. But Beijing is also able to influence their behaviour through funding bodies like Energy Foundation China, a US-based body that distributes money from American billionaire foundations.”
This two-pronged approach means that western greens have effectively become mouthpieces for President Xi.
“They praise the scale of Chinese ambition on climate change, while paying lipservice in criticizing China’s massive coal expansion. Meanwhile, the greens turn a blind eye to the obvious; China does not honour its international agreements and has no intention of reducing fossil fuel consumption, quite the opposite. While the world has awakened to China’s abuses, western environmentalists are silent,” says Adams. “China plays them as useful idiots.”