Your Thursday Briefing: China’s rejects U.S. climate overtures

By Justin Porter

Good morning. We’re covering China rebuffing the U.S.’s climate overtures, and escalating tensions in the Black Sea.

China rebuffs Kerry’s call for faster climate action

Chinese leaders rejected attempts by John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, to persuade them to commit to more aggressive climate action during three days of talks in Beijing. The lengthy meetings ended with no new agreements, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, insisted in a speech that China would phase out carbon dioxide pollution at its own pace and in its own way.

China remained “unwaveringly” committed to its stated goal of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030, Xi said in a speech to Chinese officials during Kerry’s visit. But “the pathway and means for reaching this goal, and the tempo and intensity, should be and must be determined by ourselves, and never under the sway of others,” he added.

During his visit, Kerry argued that the two countries, by far the world’s biggest polluters, must do more. He warned that heat waves scorching parts of China and the U.S. were a sign of worse to come if the countries fail to act.

A warmer reception: Henry Kissinger, the 100-year-old former secretary of state, visited Beijing and met with China’s top diplomat as well as its defense minister, who last month rejected an invitation to meet with the U.S. defense secretary.

Related: China will suspend its tariff on imported coal starting this weekend, a decision that is likely to benefit Russia.

Covid: A provincial government website briefly published data suggesting that China’s official pandemic death toll was vastly undercounted.

Ships bound for Ukraine will be considered hostile, Russia says

Russian forces will consider any ship in the Black Sea bound for Ukrainian ports to be a potential carrier of military cargo, the Kremlin said, in a significant escalation of tension and a blow to Ukraine’s ability to export its grain.

The declaration appeared to signal that Moscow would view commercial ships as legitimate military targets, which will almost certainly deter commercial shipping. Earlier in the week, Moscow pulled out of a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed Ukrainian ships to export grain, despite an effective blockade of the Black Sea by Russia’s Navy.

Food prices: A global benchmark for wheat prices spiked by as much as 9 percent after the news, the biggest percentage increase since the war broke out.

Airstrikes: For the last two nights, Russian missiles and drones have bombarded targets in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, which Ukraine said was an attack on grain terminals and other infrastructure needed to ship food.

Wagner Group: The head of Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6, said that President Vladimir Putin of Russia “cut a deal” with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the mercenary group, during Prigozhin’s failed rebellion last month.

Thailand blocks Pita

Protests erupted in Bangkok yesterday after a constitutional court suspended the progressive politician Pita Limjaroenrat from Parliament and lawmakers denied him the chance to stand for a second vote for prime minister.

Pita’s party, Move Forward, had proposed ambitious policies for challenging Thailand’s military and monarchy when it won 151 parliamentary seats in May’s election, the most of any party. But the military-controlled Senate has an effective veto over prime ministerial candidates, and Thailand’s establishment often pushes back against the democratic process.

“In my heart, I knew this would happen, so it didn’t come as a shock,” one Pita supporter said. “But I’m still disappointed, and I can’t accept it.”

What’s next: Pheu Thai — an opposition party that is part of a coalition with Move Forward — will try to form a new government and nominate its own prime ministerial candidate. Srettha Thavisin, a property mogul with little political experience, is the most likely option.

If Srettha becomes prime minister, demonstrations could be sporadic and modest. But if Pheu Thai’s coalition is blocked, the unrest could be sustained and intense.

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The Japanese film company Studio Ghibli opened a theme park outside Nagoya, Japan, to celebrate the eccentric, charming animated movies of its founder, Hayao Miyazaki, and the magical creatures he introduced to the world. My colleague Mike Ives took his two young children because they love “My Neighbor Totoro,” a 1988 Ghibli production starring a spirit creature and its cat-bus sidekick.

But the theme park is no Disneyland. There are no rides, exotic animals or other spectacles. The main point is to wander around soaking up Miyazaki vibes. But would that be enough for two toddlers?

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ARTS AND IDEAS

50 years of hip-hop

Over the last half-century, hip-hop has grown from a new art form to a culture-defining superpower, influencing and inspiring television, film, fashion, advertising, literature, politics and countless other corners of American life.

No one person can tell that story. As our critic Jon Caramanica writes, hip-hop is broad and fruitful, enthralling and polyglot, an endless fount of narratives. People don’t always agree.

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That’s it for today’s briefing. Amelia will be back tomorrow. — Justin

P.S. Esther Bintliff is joining The Times to oversee coverage of Britain.

“The Daily” is on the over-the-counter birth control pill.

We’d like your feedback! Please email thoughts and suggestions to briefing@nytimes.com.

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