A cartoon depicts the crumbling democracy in the United States. (Illustration by China’s Global Times)
The American version of democracy has caused social disorder and various other problems within the United States, while inciting chaos in nations that imported the model, a Chinese think tank says.
In a 74-page report titled "Ten Questions for American Democracy" published on Monday, the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China debunked American democracy ahead of a US-backed online ’Summit for Democracy’ slated to be held on Thursday and Friday.
The research report posed 10 questions challenging the US version of democracy, asking, ‘Is American democracy a democracy for the majority or democracy for the minority? Does it ensure checks and balances or lead to the abuse of power? Does it improve people’s well-being or increase people’s suffering? Does it defend freedom or hinder freedom? Does it protect human rights or violate human rights?’
The think tank further asked if the American democracy promotes unity or lead to division. ‘Does it realize dreams or bring about nightmares? Will it improve national governance or lead to system failure? Will it bring development and prosperity or disaster and turmoil to other countries? Will it safeguard world peace and development or undermine the international order?’
"The essence of the 10 questions is that American democracy does not truly serve the people and does not truly govern the country for the people. American democracy is ill because only a few people hold the power so that the majority of the US citizens haven’t benefited from the country’s development. Even worse, not only the well-being of the American people hasn’t been improved, American democracy has created a strong vicious and negative impact that ultimately leads to chaos and disasters in the world," said Wang Wen, the executive dean of the Chinese think tank.
Washington, according to the report, has in recent years employed its own version of democracy as an excuse to allow human rights violations and the disintegration of its own society, while at the same time has used it as a rationale to maintain hegemony, interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries and undermine the international order.
According to China’s official Xinhua news agency, representatives from the embassies of more than 30 countries in China, nearly 20 foreign media outlets in the capital Beijing, and journalists from more than 40 domestic media organizations participated either online or offline in the release of the research report and the associated seminar on Monday. They shared their views about the nature of democracy and stressed that the form of government in question is equally valuable to all mankind and that there is no single model of democracy superior to others.
They also maintained that democracy has rich and diverse meanings and that the road to democracy should be chosen by the people of each country themselves, rather than be imposed upon by another country.
"Democracy is a common value of all humanity. Democracy is a rich and diversified path independently chosen by the people of all countries, rather than a single routine forced to be imposed upon others," the report further said.
Lambasting the US’s claims that it is engaged in what it calls "democratic diplomacy," the China-based research institution noted that the only people in the US that can reflect their will are in fact "Money-cracy, Gun-cracy, White-cracy, Media- cracy, Militia-cracy and Drug-cracy."
According to the report, it is absurd for any country to claim a monopoly on the definition or the model of democracy.
"Whether a particular form of governance or democracy is good or bad has got to be decided by the sole criteria of the benefit it has provided for the common man. Policy coming out of Washington today has little to do with democracy, but it is rather a raw political attempt to assert the continued domination of the ruling financial oligarchy centered in the major banks of London and New York and backed up by the military alliance of the United States. Any attempt by developing countries like China to call for a new just world order that is equitable and inclusive will be deemed by them to be a threat to their system, and they will do whatever they can to prevent such from taking shape," said William Jones, the Washington Bureau Chief for Executive Intelligence Review, an American weekly news magazine.
The report added that the US implemented the modern democratic system earlier than other countries in history, and the American people also fought for democratic rights for a long time. However, it further said, the American democracy in recent years has gradually deteriorated, becoming a tool for a few people to seek personal gains at home, violating human rights, and causing social division.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has already published a list of about 110 invited countries. Russia and China were not on the list, but the Chinese Taipei - the self-ruled island over which China has sovereignty - has been invited.
On November 26, China and Russia jointly condemned the planned summit, describing it as a product of Washington’s Cold War mentality that will create new rifts in the international community.
In a joint op-ed in the National Interest, an American bimonthly published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang censured the US for imposing its own interpretation of democracy on the international community and its invitation of like-minded countries to the so-called summit.
The pair also stressed that the world needs the coexistence of countries with different ideologies.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/24545
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