China News Service, Beijing, December 6 (Jiang Li) US President Biden recently announced that the first "Democracy Summit" will be held from December 9th to 10th.

The Biden administration has selected 110 countries and regions as participants. On the surface, it wants to "promote democracy," but in essence, it forms cliques under the banner of "democracy", forcibly promotes its own model, and maintains its dominance. .

  According to the Washington Post, one of the main intentions of this summit is to unite the global "democratic government" against China and counter China's economic, political and military influence.

  Judging from the published list, this invitation initiated by the United States is guided by its own strategic interests.

For example, in Asia, some US allies such as Japan and South Korea were invited, while Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore were not on the invitation list.

Of the countries in the Middle East, only Israel and Iraq have been invited.

  What is democracy and whether a country is democratic is not determined by another country, but by the people of the country concerned.

  Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been the only superpower in the world, and it is unwilling to see a country that can compete with it.

However, since the September 11 incident in 2001, the global leadership of the United States has been declining.

Due to the ineffective response to the new crown epidemic, the prestige of American democracy has declined globally.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 57% of respondents globally and 72% in the United States believe that the United States is "not a good model for democracy."

  Americans have more say in their own country.

A new poll released this week by the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Political Science revealed that most young Americans are worried about the state of democracy in the United States.

Among them, 52% of young people believe that American democracy is in trouble or a failure.

  The two-party system in the United States seems to be democratic on the surface, but they are not trying to move in one direction or thinking in one place, but they are leaning against each other and tearing down each other.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, the Democrats and Republicans have been arguing over various epidemic prevention issues such as whether they should wear masks. They missed the best time to fight the epidemic, and eventually caused the domestic epidemic to get out of control.

As of the end of November, the number of deaths from the new crown virus in the United States exceeded 770,000, making the United States the country with the highest number of deaths due to the new crown epidemic in the world.

  In the face of constant doubts, the US government did not reflect on its own shortcomings. Instead, it still regarded itself as a "democracy spokesperson", and under the banner of advancing "democracy", it attracted some followers, suppressed and excluded other countries.

  The world is diverse. Democracy is not a dogma. It is impossible to achieve democracy in only one mode, let alone enforce a certain mode, and even require countries with different cultural traditions, histories, and national conditions to apply this mode, which does not conform to A country with this model is judged as "undemocratic." This practice of monopolizing the definition of democracy with one's own standards and acting as a democratic "judge" is essentially a "hegemony" mentality and a trampling on the spirit of democracy. , Is the biggest undemocratic.

  What is urgently needed in today’s world is neither ganging up to reject dissidents and convening so-called "democratic summits", nor establishing any "democratic alliances", but to let go of the "hegemony" mentality, be inclusive, respect each country’s own choices, and develop together. ,win-win.

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'Summit for Democracy' a pretense for imposing hegemony?

By John Lee

(ECNS) -- U.S. President Joe Biden has announced that he will host a virtual "Summit for Democracy" on Dec. 9 and 10. The Biden Administration has invited 110 countries and regions to join the summit, claiming to promote democracy yet, in essence, it is trying to impose its "democratic model" and maintain hegemony.

The event is an attempt to "unify democratic governments in opposition to China" and counter China's "economic, political and military influence," said the Washington Post.

The invitation list reveals its ambition to expand its strategic interests. In Asia, for example, U.S. allies Japan and South Korea were invited, while Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore were not. Of the countries in the Middle East, only Israel and Iraq were invited.

The issues of “What is democracy?" and “Whether a country is democratic or not" shouldn't be decided and judged by a certain country. Rather, it should be done by the people who live there.

The majority of young Americans believe that democracy in their country is either failing or in trouble, according to a Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics poll on Wednesday.

The United States has remained the world's sole superpower since the end of the Cold War. Its global leadership has gradually declined since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. The reputation of the U.S. model of democracy has also dropped dramatically due to its ineffective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the Global Attitudes Survey this spring, Pew surveyed 18,850 adults in 17 advanced economies about their views of American society and politics. Few people view American democracy as an example for the rest of the world to follow, its survey shows. Outside the U.S., 57 percent said that American democracy “has not been a good example for democracy in recent years.” An additional 23 percent said the United States has never been a good example for democracy.

The figure is as high as in the U.S., where about 72 percent of American respondents said their country has not been a good example for democracy in recent years.

U.S. bipartisanship appears democratic, yet Democrats and Republicans are always at odds and try to drag the other down even when there is need for cooperation. For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out they squabbled over various issues, including whether a mask mandate was necessary, missing the best time to contain the pandemic and creating an out-of-control situation.

By the end of November, the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in the U.S. had passed 770,000, making it the country with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world.  

In the face of doubts concerning its global leadership, the U.S. government did not reflect on its own shortcomings, but tried to woo followers and subdue countries with different types of governance in the name of promoting "democracy.”

The world is a diverse planet and democracy is not a dogma. There cannot be only one model of democracy, and it's unrealistic to impose one model on countries with different cultural traditions, histories, and national conditions.

It is a "hegemonic" mentality to call a country "undemocratic" if it does not conform to this model.

What is urgently needed today is neither a "summit for democracy" nor a "coalition of democracies.” Instead, the focus should be on mutual understanding, inclusiveness, and respect for each country's own choices.