In an unusual joint statement, the Chinese and Russian ambassadors in Washington criticized their countries’ exclusion from the virtual summit on democracy that US President Joe Biden will host in December.
That the United States allows itself to define “who is a ‘democratic country’ and who does not have that status” is the product of a “Cold War mentality”, write Anatoli Antonov and Qin Gang in the conservative magazine National Interest. “It will rekindle ideological confrontation and global divisions and create new dividing lines.”
The summit, scheduled for Dec. 9 and 10, aims to fulfill Biden’s campaign pledge to promote global democracy at a time when autocratic governments are on the rise.
But when the State Department released its list of some 110 invited countries on Tuesday, Russia and China reacted angrily to finding themselves excluded. Beijing also highlighted its rejection of the invitation to Taiwan, the territory over which it claims sovereignty.
Democracy “can be understood in many ways and no model can fit all countries,” wrote the Chinese and Russian ambassadors. “No country has the right to judge the vast and varied political landscape of the world with a single criterion.”
The article claims that communist China has “a broad socialist democracy” that “adapts to the country’s realities and enjoys strong support from the people”, while Russia – where President Vladimir Putin signed a law in April that could allow its permanence in power until 2036 – is described as a “democratic federal state with a republican form of government” with centuries-old parliamentary traditions.
Without naming the United States, ambassadors said that wars and conflicts in the name of democracy “seriously undermine regional and international peace, security and stability.”
“Countries should focus on managing their own affairs well, not on condescendingly criticizing others,” they added, defending mutual respect and cooperation among nations.
Among the countries invited to the virtual summit, there are some in which democracy appears fragile, has suffered setbacks or in which autocratic tendencies have emerged. Brazil, India and Pakistan were called up, but not Hungary or Turkey, a member of NATO.
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