A circus in town Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

 
The so-called democracy summit held by the US is using ideology to draw lines globally, using democracy as a tool and weapon to incite separation and confrontations with the purpose to divert attention from its internal problems and maintain its hegemony, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday in response to the US "democracy summit." 

On Thursday and Friday, the US held the so-called democracy summit, which it claimed to solicit ideas of "defending against authoritarianism" and "promoting respect for human rights." But globally, experts have criticized the summit for diving the world by ideology. 

The US sought to thwart democracy under the pretext of democracy. It attempted to preserve its hegemony over the world, and undermine the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. 

The US is not the "beacon for democracy" and the US-style democracy has gone against the essence of democracy, said the spokesperson, noting the problems of the US democracy, including the money politics, identity politics, partisanship, political polarization, social division, racial tension and wealth gap are getting worse. 

The US-style democracy is a game of the rich built on capital. Ninety-one per cent of congressional elections are won by candidates with greater financial support. It is "one person one vote" in name, but "rule of the minority elite" in reality. The general public are wooed when their votes are wanted but get ignored once the election is over, the spokesperson said. 

The power balance has become political veto and the interests of parties have been put above the national development. The dysfunction of the American-style democracy is a fact that cannot be covered up -- the Capitol riot that shocked the world, the death of George Floyd that sparked mass protests, the tragic mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the harsh reality of the rich becoming richer and the poor poorer, the spokesperson noted. 

Is US democracy good or not? A survey showed that 72 percent of Americans thought the US has not been a model of democracy for other countries; 81 percent of Americans thought that there are grave domestic threats to the future of US democracy, the spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson said that a country's path to democracy should be chosen independently by its own people, rather than imposed from outside.

As a common value of humanity, democracy is the right of people in all counries. It is not a prerogative of a small number of countries. Whether a country is a democratic should be judged by its own people not by a handful of finger-pointing outsiders. The one that suits the country's reality is the best one, said the spokesperson.

China insists on promoting the development of its democracy in accordance with China's conditions and reality. The people are the masters of the country, which is the essence and core of China's democracy. China's democracy has contributed to the country's development and social progress, and delivered a happy life for the Chinese people, the spokesperson noted. 

It is against the global trend to incite confrontation under the guise of democracy. It will only bring turmoil and disaster to the world, the spokesperson said, noting that for a long time the US has imposed its political systems and values on others, pushing for the so-called "democratic reform," abusing unilateral sanctions and inciting the "colour revolutions." "Democracy" has become the "weapons of mass destruction" used by the US to interfere in other countries' affairs, the spokesperson said. 

Since 2001, the wars and military operations waged by the US in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, caused millions of injuries, and displaced tens of millions of people. The fiasco in Afghanistan has shown that imposing American democracy on others simply does not work, the spokesperson said, noting that such practices will only bring greater turmoil and disaster to the world, and face strong condemnation and opposition from the international community.