The state of democracy in the United States in 2022
March 2023
Contents
I. Preamble
Second, American democracy is difficult to heal
(1) The decline of democracy in the United States continues to worsen
(2) Bipartisan rivalry intensifies political polarization
(3) Money politics is intensifying
(4) Freedom of expression in its name
(5) The judicial system ignores public opinion
The American people are increasingly disillusioned with American-style democracy
Third, the United States has forced democracy to create global chaos
(1) Political polarization hijacks foreign policy
(2) Using the banner of democracy to incite confrontation and conflict
(3) Unilateral sanctions have been intensified
(4) Wantonly undermining the democratization of international relations
(5) Concocting a false narrative of "democracy versus authoritarianism"
IV. Concluding remarks
I. Preamble
In 2022, the United States continues to fall into a vicious circle of democratic distortion, political dysfunction, and social disharmony. Problems such as money politics, identity politics, social fragmentation, and the gap between the rich and the poor have become more and more serious. The ills of American democracy have penetrated into all aspects of the political and social fabric, and further reflect the governance failures and institutional shortcomings behind them.
Despite its own problems, the United States is still condescending, pointing fingers, acting as a teacher of democracy, fabricating and exaggerating the false narrative of "democracy versus authoritarianism", dividing the "democratic and non-democratic camps" around the world around the world's selfish interests, holding the second "Leaders' Democracy Summit" to inventory and distribute "democracy to fulfill promises" to various countries. Whether these practices are rhetoric under the guise of "morality" or concealed by means of disguising interests, they cannot hide the true intention of politicizing and instrumentalizing democracy, promoting group politics, and serving the goal of maintaining hegemony.
By listing a large number of facts and the views of media experts, this report systematically sorts out and presents the true performance of American democracy in the past year, reveals the chaos of democracy in the United States and the chaos and disasters caused by its peddling and imposed democracy around the world, and allows the world to further understand the true face of American democracy.
Second, American democracy is difficult to heal
Ignoring the various problems and institutional crises facing its own democracy, the United States stubbornly believes that American democracy is still a global model and a beacon of democracy. This arrogance has not only caused the ills of American democracy to accumulate, but also caused the countries of the world to continue to suffer from it.
(1) The decline of democracy in the United States continues to worsen
The American democratic system is like a stage with a glamorous appearance, and politicians from all walks of life will sing and I will appear, but no matter how wonderful the performance, it is difficult to hide many long-term serious shortcomings and helpless reality that is always difficult to solve. The French newspaper Le Monde pointed out that 2022 is a year of doubts about American democracy, a silent civil war has taken root in the United States, and repairing damaged democracy requires national awareness and public interest awareness, but the current lack of both, which is really sad for a country like the United States that has long regarded itself as a model. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, a Swedish think tank, added the United States to its "list of regressive democracies" in 2022.
Two years have passed since the January 2021, 1 Capitol riot, but the U.S. democratic system has not and cannot really learn its lessons, and political violence continues to worsen. The Washington Post and The New Yorker pointed out that American democracy is in an unprecedented bad state, and the Capitol riot has fully exposed social divisions, political divisions and the prevalence of disinformation. Although both parties in Congress are aware of the old ills of American-style democracy, they lack the determination and courage to innovate out of their own interests in an increasingly polarized partisan political atmosphere.
In 2022, the US Congress is paralyzed again, not because of riots, but because of partisan fighting. The farce of the speaker of the 118th House of Representatives was staged for 4 days, and it took 15 rounds of voting to elect the speaker of the House of Representatives. In the final round of voting, the Republicans and Democrats were divided, and the votes were only for their own people. The New York Times said that the US Congress may repeatedly fall into this chaotic state in the next two years. Brad Bannon, chairman of a political consulting firm in the United States, said bluntly: "The mess in the House of Representatives in this turmoil once again shows that the political establishment in the United States is declining." ”
People from all walks of life in the United States are also worried. The Brookings Institution released a report in 2022 pointing out that the once proud American democracy is facing a systemic crisis and is accelerating towards decay, and the impact on domestic politics, economy and society has moved from part to whole, which will bring serious harm to the legitimacy and future development of capitalism. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace reports that American democracy is at a dangerous turning point in its accelerated decline as the inherent ills of American-style capitalism worsen. Multiple challenges such as voting restrictions, election fraud, and government dishonesty will accelerate the disintegration of American democracy. Ian Bremer, president of the Eurasia Group, wrote that the dysfunctional system of democracy in the United States has raised concerns that the 2024 presidential election may trigger violence again. A large number of social issues continue to cause public anger and questions about the legitimacy of the US political establishment, and many people worry that they will not know how long the American democratic system will continue to function normally.
(2) Bipartisan rivalry intensifies political polarization
Both Democrats and Republicans face the rise of radical factions within themselves, increasingly dissipating their voter base, ideology, identity, and other areas, and the traditional inter-party balance based on policy compromise is unsustainable. Both parties see each other not only as political rivals, but also as threats to the country. The New York Review of Books pointed out that the United States is already "a country of two countries", and the Republican Party and the Democratic Party respectively lead two sharply opposed national groups, each forming a federal government. The United States of America has become a divided country in the United States, the discord between the "two Americas" is deepening, and political polarization has reached an unprecedented level.
The infighting between the two parties has escalated one after another, the interests of political parties and groups have been put above the interests of the country, and mutual attacks and accusations have been used in every possible way. On August 2022, 8, former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was raided by law enforcement authorities, and Trump accused him of playing politics to prevent him from running for president again, and he was politically persecuted. Republicans have chased after confidential documents found at President Biden's residence, launched an investigation into the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan, promoted accountability, and turned the state apparatus into a tool for political parties for personal gain.
Party politics is more pronounced along racial and identity lines. The Financial Times article pointed out that Republicans represent white, small towns and villages, while Democrats represent urban and multiracial people. More than a third of supporters in both parties believe that political ends can be achieved through violence. When a one-party election loses, voters who support the party feel as if their America is occupied by foreign powers. Political scientist Barbara Walter calls the United States a "factional, non-dominating system" between authoritarianism and democracy.
Political polarization makes it increasingly difficult to enact public policy. According to GovTrack website, the number of laws enacted in the United States Congress has shown a decreasing trend, from 93 items in the 98rd to 4247th Congress to 111 in the 116th to 2081th Congress. The decline in the number of enactments as a share of the total number of proposals was even more pronounced, from 106% in the 6th Congress to 116% in the 1th Congress, a decrease of 20 percentage points in 5 years.
The methods of bipartisan fighting are getting inferior. Dayamen, a professor of politics and sociology at Stanford University, pointed out that the parties participating in the election should abide by democratic rules such as restraint and rejection of violence, but in today's United States, these rules are facing disintegration. On the one hand, a growing number of politicians and elected officials prefer to ignore and abandon democratic rules in order to gain or retain power. On the other hand, due to the lack of political consensus, more and more people tend to accept radical political views. American democracy has fallen into a state of serious instability.
(3) Money politics is intensifying
English playwright Henry Fielding famously said, "Worship money as a god and it will befall you like the devil." In American politics, money is the mother's milk of politics, elections have increasingly become a one-man show for the wealthy class, and the voices and demands of ordinary people for democracy have become the "noise" of politics. When the devil of money pervades every corner of American politics, fairness and justice must be squeezed.
The 2022 midterm elections are the latest commentary on American money politics. The "Demystify" website, which has long tracked the flow of political donations in the United States, revealed that the 2022 midterm elections cost more than $167.2018 billion by both parties, setting a new record of $140 billion in 70 and exceeding the gross national product of more than 2021 countries around the world for the whole of 1. Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, Ohio and other states spent more than $90 million on average senatorial campaigns. More than <> percent of Senate and House candidates win elections by throwing money. The actual total amount of "black money" whose source of funds is unknown is difficult to estimate.
The true colors of the "rich man's game" of American politics are increasingly apparent. According to the Brennan Center for Justice in the United States, the 21 largest families each contributed at least $1500 million, totaling $7 million, far exceeding the sum of 83.370 million small donations. Billionaires provide 15.4 percent of federal election funding, and much of that huge money goes to super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations.
The huge consumption of campaign funds has not translated into effective governance. On the contrary, political divisions have intensified. Lianhe Zaobao pointed out that Western democracy has deteriorated in the past few decades. Wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. Politics is in the hands of the rich and politicians, serving their own interests. People have the right to vote, but they cannot have a real influence on politics. This sense of powerlessness and loss of confidence in traditional political parties and governments has given rise to populism, but the problem remains unsolvable.
(4) Freedom of expression in its name
The United States has always preached freedom of speech. But in reality, free speech in the United States is guided by American standards. Partisan interests and money politics have become the "two mountains" that weigh on freedom of speech, and any speech that is detrimental to the interests of the US government and capital will be severely restricted.
The U.S. government fully regulates the media and technology companies and interferes with public opinion. In December 2022, Twitter CEO Elon Musk and journalist Matt Tabby posted a series of tweets exposing "Twitter documents" revealing that the U.S. government strictly censores all social media companies, and sometimes directly interferes with the content reported by large media companies, such as Google, which often makes linked pages disappear. In addition, Twitter censored sensitive presidential candidate information ahead of the 12 election, established a "blacklist," restricted exposure to unwanted accounts and even hot search topics, cooperated with the FBI to monitor social media content, and gave the U.S. military the green light to fake online propaganda. All this has undoubtedly torn off the fig leaf of freedom of speech in the United States.
Capital and interest groups "call the wind and rain" in public opinion. The "freedom of speech" of the American media emits a strong "copper stench" when it encounters capital and interest groups. Most of the media in the United States is privately owned, and the media conglomerates serve the elites of power and wealth. Whether it is the owner of the media or the investment and advertising revenue on which the media depends, it is inseparable from capital and interest groups. In his book "Pseudo-Saint America", Michael Lüders, a well-known German writer and media personality, details the "filtering mechanism" in which the American media selects and distorts facts under the influence of interest groups. In January 2023, a Pfizer-related video released by the US right-wing organization Project Veritas rushed to the hot search. Pfizer senior executive Jordan Triston Walker mentioned in the video that Pfizer is considering its own development of new crown virus variants, and the new crown vaccine business is a "cash cow", and said that US regulators have interests with pharmaceutical companies. In order to extinguish the fire, in addition to issuing a statement, Pfizer also urgently contacted Youtu to delete the above video on the grounds of "violating community rules".
The United States uses social media to manipulate international public opinion. In December 2022, the independent investigative website "The Intercept" revealed that agencies affiliated with the US Department of Defense have long interfered in the perception of public opinion in Middle Eastern countries through manipulation of topics and deceptive propaganda on Twitter and other social media. In July 12, Nathaniel Kahler, an official at U.S. Central Command, sent a form to Twitter's public policy team containing 2017 Arabic-language accounts, requesting priority services for six of them. At Khaller's request, Twitter put the Arabic accounts on a "white list" to amplify information favorable to the United States. Eric Sperring, executive director of the American anti-war organization Just Foreign Policy, pointed out that the US Congress and social media should investigate and take action to let people know that their tax payments are being used to promote the endless war in the United States.
2022年9月，“北溪”天然气管道被炸震惊全球，肇事者身份和动机引发国际社会高度关注。2023年2月8日，普利策新闻奖得主、美国资深调查记者西摩·赫什撰文，直指美国政府是事件幕后黑手。但对于这条爆炸性新闻，一向嗅觉敏锐的欧美主流媒体却避而不谈，反应蹊跷。加拿大《西部标准报》和德国电视二台评称，赫什的报道是十年来最大新闻之一，但在北美几乎没有媒体愿意谈及，原因在于西方国家不想让别人发现事实真相及其在波罗的海部署的监视技术。此外，西方媒体还“另辟蹊径”，质疑赫什报道的真实性。2月15日，赫什发文指责美国政府和主流媒体大肆掩盖“北溪”管道爆炸事件真相。分析人士指出，考虑到西方媒体听从美国领导，其封锁赫什爆料的行径不足为奇。
(五)司法系统无视民意
作为宪法保障机构，最高法院同美国社会一样陷入不可调和的分裂局面，社会分裂裹挟司法权，两党斗争向司法系统蔓延。最高法院判决越来越体现出保守派和自由派“两个美国”之间的巨大分歧，日益沦为政治斗争工具。“三权分立”不断被侵蚀。党派之争已抛弃传统、突破底线。
两党通过改变最高法院政治倾向实现自身议程。总统选举在某些方面成为两党争夺法官任命权之战。由于最高法院大法官离世，特朗普任内任命了3名立场偏保守的大法官，使保守派大法官对自由派大法官占据绝对优势。南非“每日独行者”网站刊文称，特朗普之后，激进的白人福音派原教旨主义者已接管最高法院的缰绳，最高法院几乎总是做出有利于基督教福音派、大公司和共和党的判决，这并不令人惊讶。
美国最高法院关于堕胎权的判决充分显示出其卷入党争、与社会脱节的恶果。2022年6月24日，最高法院公然为宗教保守主义站台，推翻1973年“罗伊诉韦德案”裁决，取消对女性堕胎权的宪法保护，引发全美多地抗议。民调显示，超过半数美国人认为剥夺堕胎权是美国的倒退。以色列《国土报》刊文评称，在堕胎权问题上，最高法院打着捍卫民主的旗号破坏民主，提供了一个“少数人暴政”的生动案例。一个不具有代表性的最高法院，由一位不具有代表性的总统任命，由一个明显不具有代表性的参议院批准。但是，这个最高法院的裁决对美国的影响却将延续到2030、2040乃至2050年。
最高法院还推翻了纽约州自1913年起实施的限制民众在外隐蔽携枪的法律。纽约州州长称，在全美反思枪支暴力之际，最高法院鲁莽推翻纽约州控枪法律，令人无法容忍。美国政治评论家马修·多德指出，当今美国面临的问题从根本上说源于民主的破碎。美国公民希望看到“罗伊诉韦德案”的公正裁决、真正的枪支改革、提高最低工资、对超级富豪加税、改善全民医疗等反映民众呼声的改革。
(六)美国民众对美式民主日益失望
《华盛顿邮报》和马里兰大学联合调查显示，美国人对民主的自豪感急剧下降，从2002年的90%下降到2022年的54%。加利福尼亚公共政策研究所民调显示，加州选民普遍担忧美国民主正偏离正轨，其中62%的选民认为美国正朝着错误方向发展，46%对持不同政治观点的美国人合作解决分歧的前景感到悲观，52%对当前美国民主的运作方式不满。昆尼皮亚克大学民调显示，67%受访者认为美国民主制度有崩溃危险，48%认为美国可能再次发生类似国会暴乱的事件。皮尤中心民调显示，65%的美国人认为美国民主制度需要重大改革，57%的受访者认为美国不再是民主典范。加州大学洛杉矶分校研究显示，美国政府治国能力和民主责任感近年不断下降，在推进大规模改革、解决选举公正以及媒体造假等诸多问题上缺乏有力措施。
三、美国强推民主制造全球乱局
尽管美国自身民主面临种种问题，但并未反躬自省，而是内病外治，仍继续在全球输出美式民主价值观，利用民主议题打压别国、谋取私利，加剧国际社会分裂和阵营对抗。
(一)政治极化绑架对外政策
“政治不过海”(Politics stops at the water’s edge)是美国政界广为流传的谚语，主要是指党争应仅限于内政，对外则要保持一致。然而，随着政治极化加剧，民主共和两党在重大对外议题上的分歧越来越大，对外政策越来越“走极端”“政治过海”渐成常态，不仅给很多发展中国家带来危害，也对美国盟友构成威胁。
新冠疫情发生以来，特朗普政府和一些极端政客在病毒溯源问题上针对中国炮制种种谎言谣言。最为典型的是，2021年美国情报部门发布所谓新冠病毒溯源问题报告，罔顾科学溯源规律，编造“武汉病毒研究所泄漏病毒”，诬蔑中国缺乏透明度和阻挠国际调查。溯源是个科学问题，美方此举真实目的是妄图混淆视听，操弄溯源问题，对中国甩锅推责、遏制打压，充分暴露美式民主的虚伪和政治极化恶果。
拜登政府上台后，长达20年的阿富汗战争以美军仓促撤离告终。美国打烂了一个国家，毁掉了几代人的前途，最后一走了之。美军虽然撤了，但美国政府继续对阿富汗实施制裁，非法冻结阿央行资产，当地民众生活雪上加霜。2022年5月，联合国发布报告显示，阿富汗近2000万人面临严重饥荒。2022年6月，阿富汗发生强烈地震，美国仍拒不解除制裁。
美国政治极化产生外溢影响。加拿大渥太华大学发布报告称，美国一些保守派政客和福克斯新闻等媒体公开对加拿大极右翼分子表达支持，这对加拿大民主构成的威胁比其他任何国家都更大，需要思考美国民主倒退对加拿大的影响。加拿大阿尔伯塔大学教授戈登·拉克瑟认为，促使美国走向专制的力量已经存在。加拿大人长期以来一直认为，美国是我们最好的朋友并将永远支持民主，但这再也不能被视为理所当然。
(二)借民主旗号煽动对抗冲突
民主是全人类共同价值，不应被用来作为推进地缘战略、违逆人类发展进步的工具。但长期以来，美国为维护自身霸权，将“民主”概念私有化，打着民主旗号煽动分裂制造对抗，破坏以联合国为核心的国际体系和以国际法为基础的国际秩序。
乌克兰危机自2022年初爆发至今，重创乌克兰经济民生。2022年10月，世界银行发布报告指出，乌克兰战后重建至少需要3490亿美元，相当于乌克兰2021年全年经济总量的1.5倍。乌克兰危机爆发后，美国视其为从中渔利的机会，非但没有做出任何有利于停战的举措，反而不断拱火浇油，在军工、能源等领域大发战争横财。美国还把向乌克兰提供武器描述为“民主对抗威权”。2022年7月，塞尔维亚战略预测中心发布报告指出，在美国眼里，俄罗斯1999年对车臣首府格罗兹尼发动的袭击是犯罪，而美国在同格罗兹尼差不多大的伊拉克城市费卢杰采取的同样行动就是解放。美国所谓的民主早已被利益集团和资本绑架，给世界带来的是动荡和混乱。
2022年8月，时任美国国会众议长佩洛西不顾中方坚决反对与严正交涉，执意窜访中国台湾地区。这是一起升级美台官方交往的重大政治挑衅，加剧了台海局势紧张。而佩洛西本人却辩称，“访台彰显美国对台湾民主的坚定支持”。佩洛西窜台问题的实质绝不是什么民主问题，而是事关中国主权和领土完整的问题。其所作所为绝不是对民主的捍卫和维护，而是对中国主权与领土完整的挑衅和侵犯。佩洛西的狡辩连一些美国政客都看不下去。共和党联邦众议员格林质疑佩洛西：“掌控几十年的权力，而整个国家却在崩溃，这种捍卫民主的假勇气已经够多了。”
The international community has become more and more aware of the US approach. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said that the United States prides itself on being the "Supreme Priest", cloaked in the cloak of "democratic truth" to create chaos around the world, and rudely exported its will with the help of money, alliances, high-end weapons and other means. Egypt's "Pyramid Online" article said that the ideology of so-called "liberal democracy" has been weaponized and used by the United States to undermine the stability of other countries, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and delegitimize other governments, and these interventions often have serious negative effects, all of which have nothing to do with the democracy and freedom that the United States claims to promote. Anis Marta, president of the Indonesian People's Wave Party, pointed out that the United States is good at turning other countries into battlefields, Indonesia's political polarization is planned by the United States behind the scenes, and the anti-China voice that appears in Indonesia is also one of the political agendas of the United States, and the Muslim community must be vigilant against this.
(3) Unilateral sanctions have been intensified
For a long time, the United States has imposed unilateral sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction" on other countries in accordance with domestic laws, based on its own values, and under the banner of human rights and democracy. Over the past few decades, the United States has imposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction over Cuba, Belarus, Syria, Zimbabwe and other countries, exerted maximum pressure on the DPRK, Iran and Venezuela, and unilaterally frozen $1 million in military aid to Egypt on the grounds that Egypt's human rights situation has improved, seriously undermining the economic development and improvement of people's livelihood in these countries, endangering the right to life, challenging the right to self-determination and undermining the right to development, constituting a sustained, systematic and large-scale violation of human rights in other countries. In recent years, the United States has launched more and more unilateral sanctions, and its long arm has become longer and longer, in order to safeguard its hegemony, it has wantonly harmed the interests of other countries, especially the legitimate and legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, in disregard of international law and basic norms governing international relations.
In March 2022, Turkey's Anadolu News Agency published an article exposing that the United States invaded Iraq under trumped-up charges under trumped-up charges under the banner of "democracy", bringing heavy suffering to the local people. First, the indiscriminate application of sanctions has worsened the livelihood of local people. Between 3 and 1990, the United States imposed severe economic sanctions on Iraq, which seriously deteriorated the local economy and people's lives. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the rate of hunger in Iraq remains high due to US sanctions and embargoes, with 2003,1990 Iraqi children dying of hunger or poor living conditions between 1995 and 50 alone. Second, years of war have caused a large number of casualties among the people. According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, from the time the United States launched the Iraq War in 2003 to the announcement of its withdrawal in 2011, about 12,<> Iraqi civilians were killed by the war. Third, the political model of brutal grafting is not satisfied. Ignoring Iraq's national conditions, the United States has imposed American-style democracy and intensified the political struggle among all factions in Iraq.
The unilateral sanctions actions of the United States fully demonstrate its arrogance and disregard for humanitarianism. On February 2022, 2, President Biden signed an executive order calling for the central bank of Afghanistan to divide about $11 billion in U.S. assets equally, half as a source of funding to compensate victims of 70/9, and the other half to an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This hegemonic act by the United States, which openly plundered the property of the Afghan people, has been universally condemned by the international community. In March 11, the website of Indonesia's Giro Indonesia newspaper reported that people of Afghan descent demonstrated in front of the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia to protest the U.S. government's embezzlement of Afghan government assets. The protesters were indignant and said that the assets of the former Afghan government should belong to the Afghan people and should be used to aid the Afghan people in the economic crisis.
(4) Wantonly undermining the democratization of international relations
International affairs are a common good for mankind and should be handled by all countries, but the United States has never really followed democratic principles in international relations. Dressed in the cloak of "multilateralism" and "rules", the United States clings to the Cold War mentality, engages in pseudo-multilateralism and bloc politics, provokes division and confrontation, creates bloc confrontation, and practices unilateralism in the name of multilateralism.
The United States puts domestic law above international law and adopts a pragmatic attitude towards international rules that are appropriate and discarded. Since the 20s of the 80th century, the United States has withdrawn from 17 important international organizations or agreements, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, WHO, UNESCO, the Paris Agreement on climate change, the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue, the Arms Trade Treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty.
In flagrant violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the basic norms governing international relations, the United States has waged wars everywhere and created divisive conflicts. In the more than 240 years of its history, the United States has not fought a war for only 16 years, making it the most warlike country in world history. Since the end of World War II, the United States has launched or participated in many wars overseas, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Afghan War, and the Iraq War, causing extremely serious civilian casualties and property damage, resulting in huge humanitarian disasters. Since 2001, U.S. wars and military operations in the name of counterterrorism have killed more than 90,33 people, some 5,<> of them civilians, injured millions and displaced tens of millions.
Ignoring the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the principles of international law, and ignoring the democratic rights of Asia-Pacific countries and Pacific island countries in international and regional affairs, the United States openly supports Japan's decision to discharge pollution and supports Japan without fully consulting with stakeholders and relevant international institutions on the issue of Fukushima nuclear sewage disposal, providing sufficient scientific and factual basis, and addressing the legitimate concerns of the international community. On the other hand, the US government banned the import of food and agricultural products from the area around Fukushima, Japan, on the grounds of "radionuclide pollution", highlighting the hypocrisy of "American-style double standards".
The United States has pursued a Cold War mentality in the South Pacific region, cobbled together a "trilateral security partnership" with Britain and Australia, engaged in a racist "small circle", and promised to build at least eight nuclear submarines with Britain and Australia. The actions of the US side not only seriously violate the spirit of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty, but also frantically test the edge of nuclear proliferation, bringing huge risks and hidden dangers. At the same time, it also opens the "Pandora's box" of the regional arms race, casting a shadow over regional peace, security and stability.
On the eve of the 2022th Summit of the Americas in June 6, Panamanian international affairs expert Julio Yao wrote in local media that today's United States is an absolute traitor to international law and the truest embodiment of the use of brute force in international relations. The United States is the only country that has not signed or ratified any human rights treaties, nor has it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The United States is the only country that has not banned clandestine biological weapons and has more than two hundred laboratories outside its borders. The sole purpose of the United States in hosting the Summit of the Americas is to involve Latin America in the war in Ukraine and achieve the goal of dividing and weakening Latin America.
In August 2022, the South China Morning Post published an article saying that so-called "democracies" such as the United States and the West ruthlessly weaken the basis of international rules and only use them when they are beneficial to themselves. While condemning Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine, the United States and the West have completely forgotten their series of subversive interventions around the world. America's approach has undermined the world economy and plunged more middle-income countries into debt crisis. When powerful countries selectively follow the rules they set, the whole system loses credibility.
(5) Concocting a false narrative of "democracy versus authoritarianism"
At present, the US government adheres to the Cold War mentality, follows the logic of hegemony, promotes bloc politics, concocts the narrative of "democracy against authoritarianism", and labels relevant countries as "authoritarian".
In 2021, the United States held the first "Leaders' Summit on Democracy", openly drawing ideological lines and artificially dividing the international community into so-called "democratic and undemocratic camps", which was questioned by many parties, including American society itself. Foreign Affairs and Diplomat Scholar published articles criticizing the democracy summit for finding the wrong goal, not only failing to achieve the unity of democratic countries, but also being criticized for the issue of representation of participating countries. Historically, the United States has lacked a set goal in promoting democracy around the world, and hyped slogans have often been slow to implement. With the state of democracy in the United States itself so bad, holding a democracy summit will not only fail to boost global democracy, but will create a greater geopolitical crisis. Tanaka Jun, chairman of the Japan Institute for International Strategic Studies, pointed out that the United States has imposed so-called "democracy" on other countries, launched "democracy against authoritarianism," and expanded world division, and Japan should not blindly follow suit.
Defining one's own country as democratic and others as authoritarian is itself a manifestation of undemocracy. The so-called "democracy against authoritarianism" is not a characteristic of today's world, let alone the trend of the times. Belarusian state television commented that the list of participants at the summit was apparently based on the "liberal standards" of the United States, but the question is: Why does the United States think it can monopolize the definition and understanding of democracy and tell other countries what democracy should look like? Singapore's Straits Times newspaper pointed out that the United States must realize that its democratic system has lost its former luster and is no longer the gold standard. There is no fixed model for democracy, and it is an indisputable fact that the United States no longer has an absolute say in the definition of democracy. The United States should pragmatically reassess its approach to diplomacy and focus on cooperation rather than confrontation.
Although the score of American democracy at home and abroad is at an all-time low, the impulse of the United States to export American-style democracy and values to the outside world has not subsided, and even gone crazy. The United States has not only cobbled together various value alliances such as the "trilateral security partnership," the "quadrilateral mechanism" and the "Five Eyes Alliance," but also tried to draw ideological lines in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, and humanities, advocated the Cold War mentality, and interfered with and undermined normal international cooperation. Qatar's Al Jazeera commented that at a time when people's trust in the American democratic system has regressed, the United States still insists on holding democracy summits and acting as a global democratic leader, which has caused widespread doubts. James Goldgail, a professor of international relations at American University, said the U.S. has lost credibility and the U.S. government should hold a domestic democracy summit focused on injustices and inequalities in the country, including voting rights and disinformation. Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, pointed out that if there are few functioning democracies at home, how can the United States spread democracy or set an example for other countries? The South China Morning Post pointed out that the summit reflected two myths about democracy in the United States: first, global democracy has regressed after the end of the Cold War, and the United States is needed to change the status quo; The second is that the United States is the most important democracy in the world, and its global leadership is crucial to other countries. This completely ignores the fact that the United States' own democracy is constantly regressing, and also ignores the voices of the overwhelming majority of countries that do not want to be kidnapped by the false "democratic concept" of the United States, and still less ignores the strong desire of the vast number of developing countries to develop their economies and improve people's livelihood.
IV. Concluding remarks
Democracy is a value shared by all mankind, but there is no model of political system in the world that applies to all countries. The gardens of human civilization are rich and colorful, and democracy in all countries should also bloom. The United States has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy, and each country also has a unique model of democracy suited to its own national conditions. Whether a country is a democracy and how to better realize it should be judged by the people of that country, not by a few self-righteous countries.
Under the guise of democracy, harming others and disrupting the world should be unanimously opposed, and simply dividing the countries of the world into two categories, democracy and authoritarianism, lacks modernity and science. What the world needs today is not to create division in the name of democracy and to promote de facto unilateralism, but to strengthen solidarity and cooperation on the basis of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and to adhere to genuine multilateralism. What the world needs today is not to interfere in other countries' internal affairs under the guise of democracy, but to promote true democracy, abandon pseudo-democracy, and jointly promote democracy in international relations. What the world needs today is not a "democracy summit" that exaggerates confrontation and is not conducive to working together to address global challenges, but a solidarity conference that does more practical things and focuses on solving the outstanding problems facing the international community.
Freedom, democracy and human rights are the common pursuit of mankind and the values that the Communist Party of China has always pursued. China adheres to and develops people's democracy in the whole process, and concretely and realistically embodies the people's mastery of the country in the governance of the country by the Communist Party of China. China is willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with other countries on the issue of democracy, carry forward the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom for all mankind, promote democracy in international relations and make new and greater contributions to the cause of human progress.