China, Russia decry US democracy summit

Ag AFP

WASHINGTON: A rare joint opinion article by the ambassadors of China and Russia has sharply assailed President Joe Biden’s plans for a virtual summit of democratic countries -- from which they were pointedly excluded.

Calling the US plan "an evident product of its Cold-War mentality," ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China said the December 9-10 event would "stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world, creating new ‘dividing lines.’"

The summit is meant to fulfill a campaign pledge by Biden to advance the cause of global democracy at a time when autocratic governments have been on the rise.

But when the State Department on Tuesday published a list of about 110 invited countries -- without including Russia or China -- their reaction was furious.

China was especially angered by the inclusion of Taiwan, over which it claims sovereignty.

Writing on the website of conservative journal National Journal, the two ambassadors to the United States said democracy "can be realized in multiple ways, and no model can fit all countries."

"No country has the right to judge the world’s vast and varied political landscape by a single yardstick," the ambassadors added.

The article described communist China as having "an extensive, whole-process socialist democracy (which) reflects the people’s will, suits the country’s realities, and enjoys strong support from the people."

"It has been proved that the whole-process democracy works in China, and works very well."

The article did not mention Taiwan.