Setting 'US standard for democracy' goes against democracy: Chinese Foreign Minister

By Yang Sheng

March 07, 2022: Information Clearing House -- " Global Times" -- The US used the name of "democracy" to hold a "Summit for Democracy" last year to exclude half of the countries around the world, openly draw lines to split the world based on ideology, and create separation, which is an abuse of the spirit of democracy, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Wang made the remarks while answering a question from the Global Times at a press conference on China's foreign policy amid the two sessions.

According to the US State Department, after the "Summit for Democracy" ended in December 2021, US President Joe Biden "will host an in-person summit in approximately one year."

The US-hosted summit last year was widely believed unsuccessful, but it still announced it would hold another "Summit for Democracy" this year. "How will China comment and respond to this?" asked the Global Times reporter at the conference.

Many people around the world believe that US democracy is facing an unprecedented crisis, but the US has continued to attack and stigmatize China's democratic system, and been trying to use "democracy" to draw lines to split the world and contain China.

Wang said the whole-process people's democracy in China is inclusive, veritable and effective, and it's sincerely approved and supported by the Chinese people. He cited the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer released January which showed that the level of trust among Chinese citizens in their government reached 91 percent.

This index in the US is only 39 percent. The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer is the 22nd annual trust and credibility survey conducted by Edelman, the world's largest global public relations consultancy firm.

"Harvard University also had similar conclusions from its surveys, and these surveys were all conducted by third parties. So it's clear that the world acknowledged China's democracy, and we are much more confident in the path we have chosen," Wang said.

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times that "US democracy is already a joke. The hundreds of thousands of Americans who died in the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly the old, the poor, the unemployed, and other vulnerable groups. During the failed and poor handling of the pandemic, the US exposed the truth behind its 'democracy fairytale' - people cannot be protected in America."

And US elections, trumpeted by US elites as a symbol of US democracy, has failed to prevent the country from falling into polarization and struggles between the right and the left, Democrats and Republicans, White and Black people, as well as the rich and the poor, Li said, noting that it seems the elections now can only make US society more divided rather than more united.

Chinese analysts said the sickness in US democracy has been caused by the long-existing problems in its political system, and will be impossible to heal soon. If the US holds another "summit for democracy" later this year, it will be even more unsuccessful than the first one, because at that time the US will hold its midterm elections, and the struggles between the two parties will bring more tragedies and further tear the society apart, with incidents like the storming of the Capitol and nationwide riots caused by the death of George Floyd very likely to happen again.   

Setting a "standard for democracy" based on the US model is undemocratic, Wang said at the conference, noting that using "democracy" as a pretext to interfere in other countries' internal affairs would only bring disaster to the people.

Li said the US uses "democracy" as a card to split the world and launch ideological attacks against other countries. This will make the world more divided and is truly bad for world peace, and will bring more confrontations between different countries, civilizations and ethnic groups. 

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the US might enjoy temporary unity among the West as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but "in fact, the US is using the conflict to make its anti-Russia policy a 'political correctness' to force other countries to cut off almost all the crucial ties they have with Russia and make many countries, especially European countries like Germany, pay a heavy price as well."

"This kind of unity is temporary, because the conflict will eventually end one day. The relevant major European countries, Russia, and even Ukraine need to find a new way to co-exist and return to pragmatism," Lü said, noting that US decision-makers like Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken "may enjoy a few happy hours. But the question is, for how long?"

"China looks forward to exchanges and mutual learning with other countries on the basis of equality. Let us promote the true spirit of democracy, strip pseudo-democracy of its various types of charade, and make the international relations more democratic so as to inject momentum to human progress," Wang said at the conference.

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