In the race to combat the mythical climate change, the West has draped itself in the mantle of moral purity, championing net-zero goals, renewable energy, and electric vehicles (EVs) as the path to a cleaner future. Leaders from Canberra to Brussels herald solar panels and EVs as symbols of progress, urging citizens to embrace a low-carbon lifestyle. Yet, beneath this virtuous narrative lies a stark contradiction: much of the green technology powering this transition is made in China, fuelled by the very fossil fuels the West seeks to eliminate. China, the world's largest consumer of coal, accounts for over half of global coal use while simultaneously dominating the production of solar panels and EVs. This paradox, where Western climate ambitions rely on China's coal-driven green tech, exposes a troubling disconnect that undermines environmental goals, creates strategic vulnerabilities, and highlights the complexities of a global energy transition.
China's energy profile is a study in contrasts. By spring 2025, wind and solar power supplied over a quarter of the nation's electricity, hinting that domestic coal use may have peaked. Yet, coal remains the backbone of China's industrial might, powering over 60% of the electricity used in solar panel manufacturing, far above the global grid average of 36%. In provinces like Xinjiang and Jiangsu, where over 80% of the world's solar factories are located, coal plants churn out cheap electricity that has slashed panel costs by 80% since 2011, fuelling a global solar boom. The International Energy Agency notes that these panels, while environmentally beneficial over their lifetime, carry an upfront carbon cost, with emissions "dumped" in China's coal-heavy grids. Similarly, coal-fired steel mills produce the aluminium and metal components for EVs and solar frames, while coal-derived chemicals supply battery precursors and silicon for photovoltaics. Even as China exports its green tech, its coal exports, up 13% year-on-year in early 2025, support Asian steel industries that indirectly feed green infrastructure, from wind turbines to EV parts.
This fossil fuel foundation extends to China's financial strategy. State-owned oil and gas giants like CNPC and Sinopec channel profits into solar, wind, and battery divisions, effectively using fossil wealth to bankroll "clean" energy. Despite President Xi Jinping's 2021 pledge to halt overseas coal financing, Chinese development banks funded four times more coal and oil projects than renewables abroad from 2013 to 2021. In May 2025, Shanxi Coking Coal Group's export of metallurgical coal to Indonesian steel mills marked a new chapter in China's coal strategy, supporting Asian industries that produce green tech components. In essence, China's green ascent is underwritten by its fossil fuel economy, a reality that clashes with the West's mythical vision of a pristine, renewable-powered future.
The West, meanwhile, has leaned heavily into this Chinese supply chain. In the first half of 2024, over 80% of US solar imports came from Chinese-owned factories in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, where Chinese firms have relocated to bypass trade restrictions. These factories, often powered by coal-heavy grids, produce the panels and batteries that Western nations rely on to meet their climate targets. In Thailand, Chinese EV brands like BYD command 70% of the market, with sales surging from under 10,000 units in 2022 to 76,000 in 2023. Chinese automakers have invested $1.4 billion in Thai assembly plants, with Chery's new factory set to produce 50,000 cars annually by 2025. Yet, this dominance comes at a cost: intense price wars, with cuts of 20% or more, have squeezed smaller brands like Neta and threatened local automakers, highlighting the fragility of over-reliance on Chinese imports.
South Asia further illustrates this green-fossil tension. In Bangladesh, nearly 90% of planned power projects are Chinese-financed. After environmental protests forced Dhaka to cancel 10 of 13 Chinese-backed coal plants in 2021, the government pivoted to solar, wind, and LNG, seeking $80-100 billion to reach 40% renewables by 2050. Bangladesh's energy future hinges on China's willingness to redirect funds from coal to green projects; failure to do so could saddle the country with stranded coal debts. In Pakistan, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has delivered over 2 gigawatts of coal-fired power, yet Pakistanis have driven a solar boom, importing 39 gigawatts of Chinese solar panels since 2020, exceeding three-quarters of the nation's grid capacity. As analyst Basit Ghauri aptly put it, "China's solar panels are outcompeting China's power plants," turning Pakistan into ground zero for this energy paradox.
For the West, this reliance on China's coal-powered green tech exposes a glaring hypocrisy. Leaders tout climate leadership while outsourcing emissions to China's coal plants, effectively shifting the carbon burden eastward. Solar panels may repay their manufacturing CO₂ within months, but the upfront emissions undermine the West's narrative of a clean transition. Strategically, this dependence creates vulnerabilities. When the US imposed tariffs on China-linked solar from ASEAN in April 2025, Chinese-owned factories in Vietnam and Malaysia idled, disrupting global supply chains. Such shocks reveal how Western decarbonisation is tethered to Chinese policy and production. Economically, the flood of cheap Chinese EVs and panels threatens local industries in places like Thailand, where domestic automakers struggle to compete. Regionally, Asian nations risk trading one form of energy dependence, fossil fuels, for another, as their grids and industries become reliant on Chinese technology and capital.
The green paradox lays bare a fundamental truth: the West's climate ambitions are inseparable from China's coal-driven reality. From the glittering solar panels on Bangkok rooftops to the EVs humming through Thai streets, China's green tech has reshaped Asia's energy landscape, bringing cheaper renewables and industrial jobs. Yet, this progress comes with a catch, much of Asia, and the West, is now tethered to Chinese capital and carbon. Ignoring this contradiction risks trading one energy dependence for another, leaving Western climate goals at the mercy of Beijing's coal-powered factories.
This is an excellent reason to abandon zero net fantasies and proceed with the full-scale use of the fuel of the communist Chinese, fossil fuels, particularly coal.
https://asiatimes.com/2025/07/chinas-climate-gambit-bet-on-coal-while-winning-the-green-race/#