Chinese State Media Strongly Criticizes "Democracy Summit" as an "Anti-China Faction"

U.S. President Joe Biden (left in the photo) and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit via video conference on the 16th (local time). (Photo by Xinhua News Agency)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Yujin] Chinese state media fiercely criticized U.S. President Joe Biden's upcoming 'Democracy Summit' next month, claiming it is fostering an anti-China faction in a very dangerous and provocative manner.

On the 25th, the Global Times argued, "The Biden administration is turning the Democracy Summit into a small ideological group to contain China."

Highlighting that among the 110 invited countries, China, Russia, and U.S. ally Singapore were excluded, it questioned, "Is this an attempt to emphasize democratic values, or is it inciting new confrontation and division?"

It further stated that holding the Democracy Summit and dividing groups based on ideological criteria has been a tactic employed by the U.S. since the Cold War era, and fiercely criticized the U.S.-defined democracy as outdated.

Professor Zhu Ying of Xinan Zhengfa University in China pointed out, "Just as sunlight splits into various colors through water droplets, democracy cannot be defined by a single color or by one country," adding, "The list of participants clearly shows that the Democracy Summit is nothing but anti-democracy."

Professor Zhu also emphasized regarding Singapore's exclusion from the invitee list, "That Singapore, which serves as a bridge between East and West, is classified as an authoritarian country reflects how narrow-minded American democracy has become."

Another expert argued that Western claims that China is becoming an authoritarian state stem from a lack of understanding of China.

Zheng Yongnian, a government advisor and director of the Global and Contemporary China Institute, said, "All modern countries are centralized to some extent, and in some ways, the West is even more centralized," adding, "In the West, leaders in power appoint almost all members, and they act according to the leader’s governance goals."

Earlier, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warned about the U.S. including Taiwan in the invitee list, saying, "Do not provide any platform to Taiwan independence forces and do not incite Taiwan independence forces," and cautioned, "Playing with fire alongside Taiwan independence forces will ultimately lead to being burned by the fire one started."