Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

“ All this has undoubtedly torn off the fig leaf of free speech in the United States.
Capital and interest groups basically can get anything they want when it comes to public opinion. In the face of capital and interest groups, American media's "freedom of speech" smacks of hypocrisy. Most American media firms are privately owned and serve the powerful and the rich. Whether it's the owner of the media or the investment and advertisement income that the media depends on, all of them are related to capital and interest groups. ”

“ Despite mounting problems at home, the US continued to behave with a sense of superiority, point fingers at others, usurp the role of a "lecturer of democracy", and concoct and play up the false narrative of "democracy versus authoritarianism". To serve the interests of none other than itself, the US acted to split the world into two camps of what it defined as "democracies and non-democracies", and organized another edition of the so-called "Summit for Democracy" to check how various countries had performed on meeting US standards for democracy and to issue new orders. ”

“ Human civilization, if compared to a garden, should be a diverse place in which democracy in different countries blooms like a hundred flowers. The US has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy, and other countries have their own unique models of democracy that suit their respective national conditions. It should be up to the people of a country to judge whether the country is democratic or not and how to better promote democracy in their country. The few self-righteous countries have no right to point fingers. ”

“ Despite unprecedentedly low ratings of US democracy at home and abroad, the country's hysteria to export US-style democracy and values continues unabated. The US has not only cobbled together values-based alliances such as AUKUS, the Quad and the Five Eyes, but also attempted to disrupt and undermine normal international cooperation in economy, trade, science, technology, culture and people-to-people exchanges by drawing ideological lines and trumpeting the Cold War mentality. ”

“ American democracy in further decline The functioning of American democratic institutions may look as lively as a circus, with politicians of all stripes showing off themselves one after another. But however boisterous the show is, it cannot hide the lethargy in addressing the long-standing, grave problems. Le Monde points out that 2022 is a year of doubt for US democracy. A silent civil war has taken root in the US, and repairing damaged democracy requires a sense of nation and public interest, both of which are currently lacking. ”

“ The South China Morning Post pointed out that the summit reflected two myths about US democracy: First, global advance of democracy since the end of the Cold War is backsliding and it needs the US to reverse it; second, the US is the most important democracy in the world and its global leadership is paramount for other countries. ”

“ III. The United States' imposition of "democracy" has caused chaos around the world In spite of all the problems facing its own democracy, the United States refuses to reflect on itself, but instead continues to export American democratic values to other countries, and use the pretext of democracy to oppress other countries and serve its own agenda. What the US has done is exacerbating division in the international community and bloc-based confrontation. ”

“ Tracing the origins of the coronavirus is a matter of science, but the true purpose of the US' doing is to obscure the views of the public and manipulate the issue to shift the blame onto China and suppress and contain China. This fully exposes the hypocrisy of American democracy and the ill effects of political polarization. ”

“ The Washington Post and The New Yorker observe that American democracy is in a worse state than ever before, with the congressional riots fully exposing social rifts, political divisions and rampant misinformation. The two parties, although not unaware of the age-old ills of American democracy, have neither the resolve nor the courage to pursue changes, given the increasingly polarized political atmosphere, as well as their focus on party interests. ”

“ The Brookings Institution concludes in a 2022 report that the once proud American democracy is facing a systemic crisis and is accelerating its decline. The impact is spreading to all fronts in domestic politics, the economy and society, posing a mortal threat to the legitimacy and health of capitalism. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace warns in a report that American democracy is at a dangerous inflection point, declining faster as the inherent ills of American capitalism worsen. ”

“ To brand oneself as democracy while others as autocracies is in itself an act contrary to democracy. The so-called "democracy versus authoritarianism" narrative does not reflect the realities of today's world, nor is it in line with the trend of the times. "Belarus 1", a state television station of Belarus, commented that the list of participants to the summit was clearly based on the US standard of "freedom", but the question was how could the US believe that it could monopolize the definition and interpretation of democracy, and tell others what democracy should look like. ”

“ The US has long lacked a set goal in its promotion of democracy around the world, and has been slow in following up its rhetoric. When democracy in the US is in such a mess, holding a democracy summit cannot boost democracy around the world, but more likely create a greater geopolitical crisis. Hitoshi Tanaka, Chairman of the Institute for International Strategy of Japan, pointed out that the US has been imposing "democracy" on other countries, advancing the "democracy versus authoritarianism" campaign, and expanding global division. ”

“ The US flagrantly violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, waging wars and creating division and conflict across the world. Throughout its history of 240-plus years, the US has been at peace for only 16 years — it is indeed the most belligerent country in world history. ”

“ Multiple challenges such as voting restrictions, election fraud, and loss of trust in government are accelerating the disintegration of American democracy. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, writes that America's dysfunctional politics raises fears that the 2024 presidential election would again provoke deadly violence in the country. A large number of hot button issues continued to provoke public anger and questions on the legitimacy of the US political establishment. Many worried about how long American democracy could continue to function. ”

“ Professor Larry Diamond of Political Science and Sociology at Stanford University believes the norms of democracy, such as self-restraint in the exercise of power and rejection of violence, which should have been observed by the participating parties in elections, have begun disintegrating in the US. A growing number of politicians and elected officials in the US have been willing to bend or abandon democratic norms in the quest to achieve or retain power. ”

“ According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 67% of respondents believe that American democracy is in danger of collapse, and 48% think there could be another Capitol riot in the United States. According to a Pew Center poll, 65% of Americans believe that the American democratic system needs major reforms, while 57% of respondents believe the United States is no longer a model of democracy. ”

“ James Goldgeier, professor of international relations at American University, said the US has lost its credibility, and that its administration should hold a domestic democracy summit to focus on injustice and inequality, including issues such as voting rights and disinformation. Emma Ashford, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, questioned how can the US spread democracy or act as an example for others if it barely has a functioning democracy at home. ”

“ Party politics increasingly followed race and identity lines. According to the Financial Times, Republicans are white, small town and rural while Democrats are now almost entirely urban and multi-ethnic. More than a third of Republicans and Democrats today believe violence is justified to achieve their political ends. When one party loses, its voters feel as though their America is being occupied by a foreign power. Political scientist Barbara Walter considers the US "a factionalized anocracy" — the halfway state between autocracy and democracy. ”

“ Singapore's Straits Times carried a column that said the US must realize that American democracy has lost its former luster, and is no longer the gold standard. There is no fixed model of democracy, and the US no longer has an absolute say over what democracy means. That is the truth. The US should pragmatically reassess its diplomatic methods and focus on cooperation instead of confrontation. ”

“ However, with the intensification of political polarization, Democrats and Republicans are increasingly divided on major foreign affairs issues, and America's foreign policy has become more and more "extreme". "Politics crossing the water's edge" has become the norm. It is not only harmful to many developing countries, but also poses a threat to America's own allies.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Trump administration and some extreme politicians have concocted all kinds of lies and rumors against China on coronavirus origins-tracing. ”

“ On 24 June 2022, the Supreme Court flagrantly endorsed religious conservatism by overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and removing constitutional protections for women's abortion rights. The decision triggered protests across the United States. Polls show that more than half of Americans believe that stripping away abortion rights is a setback for the country. Israeli media "Haaretz" commented that on the issue of abortion rights, the Supreme Court has undermined democracy in the name of defending it, which is a typical case of "tyranny of the minority". ”

“ Foreign policy held hostage by political polarization "Politics stops at the water's edge" is a popular proverb in American political circles, which means that partisan struggle should be confined to domestic politics and that a united front should be formed when dealing with foreign affairs. ”

“ The international community is seeing the US approach more and more clearly. Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, wrote that the US, as a self-proclaimed "high priest", has wreaked havoc around the world under the disguise of "true democracy", and used money, allies and high-end weapons to crudely impose its will. ”

“ Such actions have seriously damaged the economic development and people's livelihood in the countries concerned, and jeopardized the right to life, the right to self-determination and the right to development, constituting a continual, systematic and massive violation of human rights in other countries. ”

“ According to a report released by the University of Ottawa, there is open support from conservative media, including Fox News, and conservative politicians in the US for the far-right extremists in Canada. It represents a greater threat to Canadian democracy than the actions of any other state, and the implications of democratic backsliding in the US for Canada must be reflected upon. Professor Gordon Laxer at the University of Alberta believes the forces moving the US toward autocracy already exist. ”

“ Those who have many flaws themselves have little credibility to lecture others. Attempts to undermine others for one's own profit and destabilize the world must be unanimously opposed. A black-and-white division of countries as democratic or authoritarian is both anachronistic and arbitrary. ”

“ In October 2022, the World Bank released a report suggesting that Ukraine would need at least US$349 billion, or 1.5 times the country's total economic output for the whole year of 2021, to rebuild after the war. The US saw the Ukraine crisis as a lucrative opportunity. Instead of taking any measures conducive to ending hostilities, the US kept fueling the flames and made a huge fortune from the war business including the arms industry and the energy sector. ”

“ Al Jazeera observed that the US insistence on holding a democracy summit and acting as a global democratic leader even when trust in its own democratic system is declining has raised widespread suspicion. ”

“ As a result, the traditional inter-party balance based on policy compromise became more difficult to sustain. The two parties saw each other not only as political opponents, but also as a threat to the country. The New York Review of Books points out that America is already "a binational state" with the Republicans and Democrats leading two sharply opposed national communities that effectively operate as confederations under a single federal government. The United States of America has become the disunited states. ”

“ The US places its domestic law above international law, and adopts a selective approach to international rules, applying and discarding such rules as it sees fit. Since the 1980s, the US has withdrawn from 17 important international organizations or agreements, including the UN Human Rights Council, WHO, UNESCO, the Paris Agreement on climate change, the JCPOA, the Arms Trade Treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Treaty on Open Skies. ”