The virtual "Summit for Democracy" held by the US kicked off on Thursday, but Chinese analysts said that Washington just ...
'Summit for Democracy': How a single toxic hornet hijacks a group of bees
Illustration: Chen Xia/GT
The US-initiated "Summit for Democracy" began Thursday night Beijing time. Several hours before its opening, Pakistan, which was among the participants the US had invited, announced that it would not attend. Pakistan's announcement triggered much discussion. In addition to the heated discussion of why the US invited certain countries and regions but did not invite some others, the latest topic has taken the real theme of "democracy" away.
The US has used much of its strength to snub China and Russia and controversially defined which country or region is democratic and which is not. The forces it tries to curry favor from are definitely not as many as it has offended. It must be said that the US has become so fragile that it has to go around in such a big circle to beg for a little support. The result is destined.
Democracy is not achieved by talking big, but by a country's arduous work. Democracy is not the franchise model of chain stores where the US formulates rules and rations ingredients, with the same cartoon character of an old guy standing in front of each entrance. The team of US President Joe Biden must have eaten too much KFC and McDonald's when they were young.
Biden convened this "summit for democracy" at a time when US national governance, including its democratic system, was criticized the most. From the West's point of view, the summit should be held as a "criticism summit" against the US. The US has been a drag on Western democracy, and this is the major reason why Western democracy has felt a sense of crisis. Discussions about the US' "decline" have flooded the world's public opinion field. From the COVID-19 fight to anti-racial discrimination, the US has not done anything worthy of being put on a window display in the West. Western democracy has lost its face by following the US.
The very purpose of this "summit for democracy" is to use a big pomp to remind the world: The "declining" US you talk about is still the boss and other countries should choose the right "big brother" to follow. Washington wants to form a "democratic gang," but the world has turned that old page long ago. Even street singers use QR codes to get paid nowadays.
Some say that the "summit for democracy" may become one of Biden's few political legacies. But is it pitiful for Biden? No wonder some Chinese people said ironically that even the head of a county in China is more practical and capable than the US president.
This so-called summit for democracy is bound to be a hypocritical exposition of all kinds of international political machinations within the US-led gang. This conference in the name of "democracy" will definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame in history, just because it deepens the divisions of the world and intensifies confrontation between major powers. In this sense, it may be regarded as the "political legacy" of the Biden administration, but definitely a negative asset.
It's a joke that the US, trapped in the COVID-19 epidemic, even dares to summon a "summit for democracy" and attempt to give a voice to democracy when it has just run away from Afghanistan, the "laboratory for democracy." A swarm of innocent bees is being hijacked by a toxic hornet who teaches them to sting, not to produce honey.
A farce is being staged. The world did not host an infrastructure summit, an education summit or a poverty alleviation summit, but the US created a "summit for democracy." So far, what has caused the most global deaths are the COVID-19 pandemic that ravages across the world, as well as the Western-style "democracy" imposed by the US and West on developing countries. The US didn't have to hold a "summit for democracy." It would be best for it to open its border and let refugees from Third World countries who suffered immensely from Western-style democracy enter its territory and enjoy "authentic democracy."
An undemocratic 'summit for democracy
An undemocratic 'summit for democracy'
US President Joe Biden arriving to deliver his remarks at the virtual Summit for Democracy at the White House in Washington DC. — AFP
THIS week the United States hosted an online “Summit for Democracy” (Dec 9-10), which it claimed was to “focus on challenges and opportunities facing democracies” and to “defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad”.
Unfortunately, it might end up to be nothing but an attempt to divide the world into opposing political camps and advance the US’S own strategic agenda with democracy as an excuse. If so, the meeting couldn’t be further away from the spirit of democracy. China firmly opposes the move by the US, one that is dominated by Cold War mentality and which seeks to incite ideological confrontation and risks creating new divisive lines in the international community.
With this summit, the US seeks to empower itself to determine who is democratic and who is not based on its own liking, and measure the merits of other countries’ democracy with its own yardstick. This is, in fact, privatisation and labelling of democracy and will make the “Summit for Democracy” itself undemocratic.
The world today is facing pressing global challenges such as an ongoing pandemic and climate change, and some countries, including the US, are troubled by a worsening democracy and many domestic problems. Under such circumstances, countries have every reason to prioritise the needs of the people, advocate unity and cooperation, and strive for development and progress.
Perhaps the last thing a responsible major country should do is to turn a blind eye to its own problems and scapegoat others politically. Ironically, it is the people who have to pay the price at the end of the day.
While upholding democracy at home, countries should also support greater democracy in international relations, uphold the Un-centred international system and the international order based on international law.
Efforts are also urgently needed to practice true multilateralism and make global governance more inclusive. These are the shared aspirations of the international community and meet the trend of our times. Unfortunately, the US summit did not indicate if it would advance these goals, seeming instead to make itself a disruptive factor.
China believes that democracy means, in essence, that people are the masters of the country. Democracy is practiced to meet people’s needs, bringing the people a decent and happy life and progress for the country and beyond.
Having seen a number of successful and failed cases of democracy worldwide, countries across the world must have come to realise one thing: true democracy will only dawn when it is deeply rooted in a country and fits well with its own national conditions and stage of development. Efforts to mechanically copy the political systems and democratic models of others have never worked and never will. Neither do attempts to impose one’s own political will on others.
When it comes to China’s case, the Chinese people have followed the political development path with Chinese characteristics and created the model of whole-process ....
An undemocratic 'summit for democracyAn undemocratic 'summit for democracy'
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