The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a lengthy response to the “Summit for Democracy” held by the United States. The response said that the U.S. was “turning democracy into a tool and a weapon” in efforts to “thwart democracy under the pretext of democracy, incite division and confrontation, and divert attention from its internal problems.” (https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/202112/t20211211_10466939.html)
The United States is trying “to preserve its hegemony over the world, and undermine the international system,” and this both “goes against the trend of the times” and “has been widely opposed by the international community.”
The main points emphasized in the comments are the following
I. The U.S. is not a “beacon of democracy.”
Numerous problems, such as “money politics, identity politics, partisanship, political polarization, social division, racial tension, and the wealth gap” are worsening, while money gains increasing power. The great majority of Congressional elections are won by the candidate with the most financial support. Although the U.S. may operate on “one person one vote” in theory, the reality is that it is “rule of a small elite.” Voters are wooed before elections and forgotten afterward. Partisan interests create a “vetocracy” that prevents national development. Gerrymandering undermines electoral fairness.
What do the American people think? Some surveys show 72% of Americans believing that democracy in the United States has not been a good example, and 81% believe that there are grave domestic threats to the future of American democracy.
