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“‘I think he lacks common sense when he made such a comment, vis-à-vis funds for China. Either lack of common sense or extremely irresponsible.’ Unusually blunt language, that common from China’s foreign minister, more so, because the person on the receiving end is the U.S.’s chief climate negotiator. But as the two major powers wrestle it out on major issues, the tempers are running high.” (News X)

As Copenhagen climate talks near completion, the world’s top two carbon dioxide emitters, China and the U.S., are publicly butting heads.  The debate focuses on whether China is a developing country and whether countries must write down reduction commitments.

We’re looking at coverage from The Wall Street Journal, NPR, FOX News, NewsX, MSNBC, and The Financial Times.

The Wall Street Journal brings us Chinese foreign minister He Yafei, verbalizing China’s position on why it should receive financial aid.

“For China, China is a developing country. Some people might say China’s economy is pretty big. Yes, its aggregate GDP is pretty big, but, it has a huge population. Our per capita GDP is only a little over US$3,000”

Environmental reporter Jeffrey Ball looks beyond the argument of China blaming rich nations for pollution and the U.S. saying the world’s biggest economy no longer deserves special treatment.

“The arguments between the U.S. and China reflect the two countries' broader contest  for  economic power in the decades ahead.”

FOX News guest Dick Morris agrees, saying treating China as a developing country would give Chinese industry an even bigger advantage over the U.S.

“The United States’ manufacturing caught a break recently because the high coast of fuel makes it expensive to bring products in from China. But now, we’re going to be imposing a tax on ourselves that the Chinese will not impose on themselves, which will nullify that advantage.”

The Financial Times reports the reaction of U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern who says China has the money to fund its own efforts.  He tells the times,

“I do not envision public funds, certainly not from the U.S., going to China. We would intend to direct our public funds to the neediest countries."

FOX News correspondent William La Jeunesse reports the bigger point of contention between the two nations is documentation and validation of emission cut commitments.

“International verification. This is a Chinese, U.S. issue, Bill. Basically, China does not want to undergo any type of international monitoring or verification of carbon credits or offsets or any type of domestic actions they may take to take credit for reductions.  The U.S. says, 'Listen we just don’t trust you.'”

NPR’s Richard Harris says the way China chose to set its emission reductions is behind their refusal to write anything down.

“But its also true that once China has promised to limit its emissions, it then needs to open up a bit and show the world its business to prove its meeting those targets”…“And it would be especially for China. The emissions reduction goal they announced is a cut relative to their economic growth, their GDP. That means they’d not only have to show their emissions data but they’d also have to verify their GDP since it's part of the promise. And that’s really tough.”

Finally, MSNBC political correspondent Jim Vandehei reports Mr. Obama has stepped in to the debate, calling on world leaders. They say with a written agreement the U.S. can call Copenhagen a success.

“Well what he wants to do is make sure when he goes to Copenhagen that he’s not embarrassed, and he can walk away with at least something in writing or something in a setting where he can say, 'Listen, we’ve got an agreement that says we’re at least going to try to reduce emissions.'”

So should China be treated as a developing nation?  How should countries be held accountable for emission reductions?

Writer: Allison Bennett

Producer: Nathan Giannini