2021年12月7日，华东师范大学澳大利亚研究中心主任陈弘在《环球时报》发表题为Democracy Summit is an instrument to maintain US hegemony的英文评论文章。
US democracy. Illustration: Liu Rui/GT
The so-called Summit for Democracy summoned by Washington is in essence an autocratic attempt, as it haphazardly dictates the definition of democracy in spite of the diversity among the human race. It capriciously imposes an unreasonable regime of criteria according to one lopsided interpretation of democracy and unilaterally divides the world into two camps with iniquitousness. The hidden agenda behind such attempts is never about the wellbeing of the peoples around the world, but for the ulterior motive of retaining and maintaining the unipolar dominance of the US.
Systems of governance have evolved in history, developing and modifying to adapt to changing times and situations. Just as the shoe that fits one person could pinch another, there are different systems that have effectively proved to work for specific countries, but failed to do so for others. Francis Fukuyama was overwhelmed by the West's supposed triumph in the Cold War. He was simply off beam to assert that the Western way of governance was the ultimate consummation of political system for all human societies. The fallacy that history had come to an end is ridiculous, as history is by nature progressive and never stops. How could the whole human race stay stationary in one petrified system with no hope of further development? Fukuyama's premises attempt to serve only one purpose, which is to install a global political culture of Western hegemonic supremacy.
It is therefore entirely erroneous to create and impose a biased standard to measure, assess and judge different human communities under such dictatorial misguidance. People around the world reject such despotic irrational imposition of ways of life and systems of governance on all countries.
China's whole-process democracy has been able to bring about tremendous changes to this most populous country in the world. Around 770 million people have been lifted out of poverty, and a governance system of efficacy has proved to work efficiently at various levels in this country, as could be testified in China's successful fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. What's more, a self-cleansing regimen has been in place, to eradicate corruption, misconducts and poor efficiency among local and national officials and executives.
In spite of the fact that the US itself is fraught with disheartening problems and oftentimes calamitous failures in governance and management, the US has been alleging itself to be "the lighthouse of democracy." It brazenly makes judgments on other countries in accordance with its own political outlook and practices, and has been repeatedly attempting to force such ideology and regimes on other countries.
The Biden administration's Summit for Democracy is therefore bound to flop. The US has been acting increasingly like a wilful delinquent. Flexing its muscles and bluffing with brutal force, it tries to adopt a wolf pack tactic to besiege and suppress China, which it irrationally identifies as its archrival. In fact, even some of its longstanding allies only pay lip service to Washington's strategy, effectively rendering the gathering a farce of no consequence at all.
What the whole world should be vigilant about is an inherent iniquitous motive in this ill-intentioned congregation. Washington has become a divisive force to disrupt and sabotage the unity and stability of the international community. It attempts to deliberately create a demonised Otherness, and enlist and mobilise other countries and regions to isolate and overpower countries refusing to compliantly succumb to its unwarranted imposition and pressures. It malevolently attaches unjustifiable labels to create a political apartheid to coerce and compel countries like China, Russia and others to comply and conform.
Democracy is a sacred tenet for all human beings and should not be politicized and weaponized. It should not be used as an instrument to bully other countries, to bring about regime change, and to maintain the regional and global dominance of the US.
The UN charter proclaims clearly that all countries should be treated with "the principle of sovereign equality." To arbitrarily create divisions among the human race would only cast the world into catastrophic disunity and instability.
The author is a professor and Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Studies Centre, East China Normal University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
