China, Japan, SKorea vow to make climate talks

The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea on Saturday said they would "work closely together" to make crucial global climate talks in Copenhagen in December a success.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said they would "work closely together... to contribute to the successful achievement of the Copenhagen conference".

They said that success would be based on "the establishment of an effective post-2012 international cooperation framework on climate change, consistent with the principles of the UNFCCC, in particular common but differentiated responsibilities".

More than 190 countries will converge in the Danish capital to try to hammer out a treaty to tackle global warming that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Rich nations have pushed emerging giants such as China and India, which had no obligations under Kyoto, to commit to binding action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that would be in keeping with their level of development.

But Beijing and other developing nations have repeatedly baulked at that request, saying industralised nations should bear the brunt of the responsibility.

At global climate talks in Bangkok this week, several nationsnotably the United States, Australia and Japan floated proposals calling for an approach in which each country would make its own national commitments.

-AFP