China’s white paper details country democracy

The Chinese government has published a white paper on the country’s democracy, saying that “China practices a rich and extensive form of democracy.”

The move may not be unconnected with the proposed hosting of the Summit for Democracy next week by US President Joe Bidden.

The Chinese government unveiled the white paper titled “China: Democracy That Works” at a news conference on Saturday.

The paper says that China did not duplicate Western models of democracy in its modernization drive, but created its own.

It says, “Democracy is rich in form, and there are many ways to achieve it. Countries with different histories, cultures, and national conditions may choose different forms of democracy.”

The paper also says, “Whether a country is democratic should be judged by its people, not dictated by a handful of outsiders.”

Minister of the State Council Information Office, Xu Lin, said at the news conference that democracy “is the right of the people of all countries, not the patent of a few countries.”

He criticized the US, saying the country considers itself the leader of democracy, but in reality, has suppressed other countries with different social systems and development models under the name of democracy.

The Biden administration is scheduled to hold the two-day online Summit for Democracy” starting Thursday and has invited leaders from about 110 countries and regions.