Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a dud letter to the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

Failing to attend the summit, the Chinese leader was expected to extend an olive branch with new pledges to cut carbon emissions. Instead, Xi offered no new commitments beyond pre-stated pledges to peak China's carbon emissions by 2030 and reach neutrality by 2060. The lack of new action will greatly disappoint COP26 delegates. It will particularly frustrate the European Union, which regards China's cooperation on climate change as a keystone of its diplomatic partnership with Beijing.

Instead, Xi sent a letter to COP26 host and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

According to Chinese state media, the letter warned against U.S. efforts to organize global democracies in greater challenge of China's destabilizing activities. Xi explained that "forming exclusive blocs or even drawing ideological lines will only cause division." He also appeared to demand U.S. decarbonization funding, explaining that "the developed countries should honor their funding commitments to developing countries to help them cope with climate change." (China regards itself as a developing country).

This attempt at distraction and linking of unrelated geopolitical issues to climate change will aggravate many governments . Yet, Xi's dud letter does reflect how carbon emissions have become a secondary concern for Beijing. Even Xi's 2030 and 2060 timetables must now be judged with caution.

After all, China is currently afflicted with a mass power shortage . This is disrupting China's export-dependent economy and the provision of heating amid the approaching cold winter. Having already constructed hundreds of new dirty coal-powered plants over the past few years, the Communist Party will be reluctant to risk further damaging the economy and public approval with further carbon emission controls. It's crucial to recognize that Xi's regime is increasingly paranoid amid escalating external pressures against its foreign policy and rising domestic pressures over consumer choices , political identity , and a reverberating coronavirus pandemic . Those, such as U.S. climate czar John Kerry, who believe that China can be appeased into acting much more boldly on carbon emissions, are deluding themselves.

Xi isn't interested in saving the planet. As one of the BBC's more astute journalists observed on Monday , he's interested in securing the party.