But they will not accept any outside monitors to ensure that they are indeed making the changes that they have promised to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants emitted per unit of economic output.

Chinese negotiators have said little during formal negotiation sessions here, where they have been working in partnership with the developing countries. They have made clear that they do not expect money from the industrial powers to help make the shift to a more energy-efficient economy.

"I think there's no doubt that China, when it says 40 to 45 percent reduction in energy intensity, is serious about that," said Ed Miliband, the British secretary of state for energy and climate change. The more challenging hurdle, he said, is finding a way that China can prove to the outside world that it is reducing its emissions by the amount it claims. He Yafei, the Chinese vice foreign minister, said China's laws would guarantee compliance. "This is a matter of principle," even if it scuttles the talks, he said in an interview with The Financial Times.

It would be political suicide for Obama to return from Copenhagen with an unverifiable agreement. And it is amusing to note that China's "laws" also guarantee freedoms for the people that are honored in the breach - if at all. So much for trusting the Communists adherence to their own laws.

In short, it appears that the delegates hardly need a scandal that calls into question the very concept of what they are negotiating to prevent when they can't even decide how much they want to screw western consumers of energy.



But don't worry. No doubt we will hear of Obama's magical presence acting as a soothing balm on the delegates while they agree to an "historic" accord on climate change.





