China has recently claimed it has a better democratic system than the U.S.
Chinese-style democracy: China’s State Council, the chief administrative authority in the country, made the pronouncement via a recently released position paper titled “China: Democracy That Works,” as published by state media Xinhua.
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- According to the paper, China’s type of democracy works because it is a “model of socialist democracy that covers all aspects of the democratic process and all sectors of society.”
- The paper claims that China’s political framework is based on the system of “multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC.”
- It explained that although the country does not have opposition parties, it is “not a system of one-party rule. Nor is it one in which multiple parties vie for power and govern in turn. It is a multiparty cooperation system in which the CPC exercises state power.”
- Further supporting this narrative is “Pursuing Common Values of Humanity — China’s Approach to Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights,” a separate report also published by Xinhua.
- The report claims that China’s focus on “governance rather than on elections” has resulted in maintaining “long-term social stability along with rapid economic growth.”
- China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a report criticizing the U.S.’ democracy, alleging that it has become “a game of money politics,” with “one person one vote” in name and a “rule of the minority elite” in reality.
- The report cited racism in the U.S., the Capitol riot, COVID-19 pandemic mismanagement, the wealth gap and the alleged lack of freedom of speech as some of the “chaotic features of U.S. democracy.”
Biden’s summit: In an apparent bid to undermine the U.S.’ moral authority on democracy, the recent publications praising Chinese-style democracy coincide with President Joe Biden’s plans to host the upcoming Summit for Democracy, reported the The New York Times.
- Biden will host the first of two summits, which will be held on Dec. 9-10 to “tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.”
- The summit, which sent invitations to government leaders, civil society members and private groups, has earned criticism for inviting supposedly undemocratic countries such as Angola, Iraq and Congo, while not including allies such as Turkey and Hungary.
- Critics have also called out the U.S. to fix its democratic issues first before preaching democratic values to the rest of the world, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
- Washington-based advocacy group Freedom House cited a decline in U.S. civil liberties and political rights for the country’s “Global Freedom” score, which has fallen lower than newer democracies.
- Freedom House analyst Sarah Cook noted that China’s pronouncement on democracy show that Beijing acknowledges the “symbolism and legitimacy” of the system.
Featured Image via CGTN
