The Chinese communist regime views climate change as an opportunity to expand its influence worldwide, according to a prominent Chinese academic. The global emissions reduction agenda can not only help the regime economically but also has “political significance” for Beijing, Di Dongsheng, associate dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University in Beijing, wrote in his blog on April 27. “It can help [us] to regulate and control the social, political, and economic environment,” Di said. The regime should take up a key role in addressing global climate change, the professor said, given the growing rifts between Beijing and Western powers over a range of issues. “The climate issue is basically the only positive topic that China, the United States, and Europe can come together and discuss amicably,” Di wrote. The professor gained notoriety last year when he called out Wall Street’s long-standing role in influencing American politics …