A view of the US Capitol Building. Photo: IC
Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday released a report on US democracy, exposing the deficiencies and abuse of democracy in the US as well as the harm of it exporting such democracy.
Ahead of the US-initiated summit for democracy, China has consecutively issued a white paper on Chinese democratic model and a report on US democracy, which not only defends China’s own democratic achievements but also warns of the disastrous effects of the US’ democratic mess on the world, said Chinese experts. They described the report as timely and to the point.
It is hoped that the US will improve its own system and practices of democracy and change its way of interacting with other countries, said the report, noting that this is in the interest of not only the American people, but also the people of other countries.
The report pointed the US system is fraught with deep-seated problems and the US democracy has become “a game of money politics,” the US has “one person one vote” in name, which is however”rule of the minority elite” in reality; the checks and balances have resulted in a “vetocracy,” and the flawed electoral rules have impaired fairness and justice, and the dysfunctional democracy has triggered a trust crisis.
The report also mentioned the messy and chaotic features of US democracy, including the capitol riot that shocked the world, entrenched racism, tragic mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, widening wealth gap and the “freedom of speech” in name only.
Also, the report bashed the disastrous consequences of US’ practice of exporting democracy. The “color revolutions” have undermined regional and national stability, the US imposition of its style of democracy has caused humanitarian tragedies, the abuse of sanctions has breached international rules, and the “beacon of democracy” has drawn global criticism, according to the report.
Democracy is a common value shared by all humanity, said the report. It is a right for all nations, not a prerogative reserved for a few. Democracy takes different forms, and there is no one-size-fits-all model. It would be totally undemocratic to measure the diverse political systems of the world with a single yardstick or examine different political civilizations from a single perspective. The political system of a country should be independently decided by its own people, the report said.
The report pointed out that the US’system of democracy is derived from its own practices, noting this system is unique, not universally applicable, and it is far from perfect. However, over the years, the US, despite the structural flaws and problematic practice of its democratic system, has claimed itself as the “model of democracy.” It has incessantly interfered in other countries’ internal affairs and waged wars under the guise of “democracy,” creating regional turbulence and humanitarian disasters, the report said.
One day after China released its white paper on the country’s democratic model, China issued another report on US democracy, which not only explains what China’s democracy is but also tells the world that China understands what the US democracy is. The US is far from a “beacon of democracy” and has nothing worth showing off given the chaotic American society, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.
At a time when the whole world needs to work together to fight the pandemic, recover economically and care for the vulnerable, the US is hosting such a useless summit based on ideological boundaries which targets China, Russia and some other countries and regions. It reflects the US’ Cold War mentality and exposes that the country is playing a divisive role in the world,Lü said, criticizing the upcoming US democracy summit.
Global Times
