US, China, Taiwan island Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

 

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED)'s hosting of a "democracy" assembly in Taiwan is intended to sell "a poison to incite separatism" in the island, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. Experts noted that the NED's move is part of the US' scheme of continuing to play the ideological card to contain China after holding the "Summit for Democracy" in 2021. 

The 11th Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy will be held in Taipei in October, Taiwan authorities announced on Monday after Damon Wilson, president of the NED, arrived in Taiwan on Sunday with a delegation and met with Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen and other officials over the assembly. 

Wilson's visit to Taiwan under the guise of so-called "democracy" is not to sell "a recipe for democracy, but a poison to incite separatism" in the region, said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Wang warned the US that its attempt to use "democracy" as a platform to back Taiwan separatist forces and to use Taiwan to control China will encounter greater failure in the future, after the so-called "Summit for Democracy" ended badly in 2021.

He also warned the Democratic Progressive Party that democracy will not serve as a "shield" for Taiwan separatists, let alone as a "talisman."

During Wilson's visit, he said the NED supports Taiwan's "democracy and freedom" and holding the assembly in the region is meant "to fully demonstrate that it is a global democratic hub," reported Taiwan media. 

Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the assembly is another case of the US' scheme that attempts to contain China by playing the ideological card, following last year's "Summit for Democracy", and it is also an important way to woo Taiwan. 

It is a distinctive feature of the US' Taiwan policy - defining Taiwan as "democratic" and the Chinese mainland as the opposite and playing up the confrontation of values across the Straits. 

This assembly of the NED is an example, and it can be seen that such schemes will continue to be vital in US policy for a long time, he said. 

The NED has been linked to different separatist forces in China, sponsoring protests and producing China-related lies, and it is a tool for the US to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, Wang revealed at the press conference.

The organization provided more than $10 million to nearly 70 China-related projects in 2020 alone to promote activities that threaten China's political and social stability, according to data released on the organization's website, he said, adding that from 2004 to 2020, it provided funds of $8,858,300 to various "East Turkestan" organizations, and it was a "major donor" for inciting and funding anti-China separatist activities. 

"The NED has long been linked to the 'East Turkestan', and to separatist forces in Hong Kong and Tibet, and it funded and controlled various anti-China demonstrations and protests. It is one of the main producers and disseminators of many China-related lies and rumors," said Wang. 

Founded in 1983, the NED says that it is an independent and nonprofit foundation that works for the "strengthening of democratic institutions" around the world, according to its website. 

However, Wang pointed out that the self-claimed "nonprofit" foundation has actually been funded by the US Congress and the White House for a long time and engaged in the infiltration of values, subversion and destruction of other countries' regimes, and inciting anti-government movements around the world under the guise of so-called "democracy."

The NED is behind many color revolutions, upheavals and violent incidents that occurred in multiple countries in recent years, including the 2019 riots in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the anti-government demonstrations in Thailand, he said. 

It has long linked up with anti-government groups in many countries and is in fact a tool for the US to interfere in other countries' internal affairs and serve its own interests, he stressed.