President Trump’s controversial move last year to withdraw from the Paris Treaty leaves a leadership vacuum in the U.N., which China has readily stepped in to fill. But can China be trusted with this responsibility?

With the sudden bang of a gavel Saturday night, representatives of 195 countries reached a landmark climate accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is attending the opening session of a major United Nations climate change conference here, met with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Monday, discussing issues from bilateral ties to climate change talks.