2023-03-20 10:00<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I.\u2002Preamble<\/p>\n\n\n\n II.\u2002American democracy in chronic ills<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.\u2002American democracy in further decline<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.\u2002Political polarization intensified by partisan\u2002fights<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.\u2002Money politics surged<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.\u2002\u201cFreedom of speech\u201d\u2002in name only<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.\u2002The judicial system blind to\u2002public opinion<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6.\u2002Americans\u2002increasingly disillusioned with American democracy<\/p>\n\n\n\n III.\u2002\u2002The United States\u2019 imposition of\u2002\u201cdemocracy\u201d has caused chaos around the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.\u2002Foreign policy held hostage by political polarization<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.\u2002Inciting confrontation and conflict\u2002in the name of democracy<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.\u2002Doubling down on unilateral sanctions<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.\u2002Undermining democracy in international relations<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.\u2002Foisting a trumped-up narrative of \u201cdemocracy versus authoritarianism\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n IV.\u2002Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n I.\u2002Preamble<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022,\u2002the vicious cycle of democratic pretensions, dysfunctional politics\u2002and a divided society continued in the United States.\u2002Problems such as\u2002money politics, identity politics, social rifts, and the gulf between the rich and poor worsened. The maladies afflicting\u2002American democracy deeply infected\u2002the cells of\u2002US\u2002politics and society, and further revealed\u2002US\u2002governance failure and\u2002institutional defects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite mounting\u2002problems at home, the\u2002US\u2002continued to behave with a sense of superiority, point fingers at others, usurp the role of a \u201clecturer of democracy\u201d,\u2002and concoct and play up the false\u2002narrative of \u201cdemocracy versus authoritarianism\u201d. To serve the interests of none other than itself, the US acted to split the world into two camps of what it defined as \u201cdemocracies and non-democracies\u201d, and organized another edition of the\u2002so-called \u201cSummit for Democracy\u201d to check how various countries had performed on meeting US standards for democracy and to issue new orders. Be it high-sounding rhetoric or maneuvers driven by hidden agenda,\u2002none can hide the real designs of the US \u2014 to maintain its hegemony by playing bloc politics and using democracy as a tool for political ends. \u2002<\/p>\n\n\n\n This report collects\u2002a multitude of facts, media comments and\u2002expert opinions to present a complete and real picture of American democracy over the year. What they reveal is an American democracy in chaos at home and a trail of havoc and disasters left behind as the US peddled and imposed its democracy around the globe. It helps remove the facade of American democracy for more people worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n II. American democracy in chronic ills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The US refuses to acknowledge the many\u2002problems and\u2002institutional crises\u2002confronting its democracy at home and stubbornly claims to be the template and beacon of democracy\u2002for the world. Such imperiousness\u2002perpetuates\u2002the ills of its\u2002democracy\u2002and causes dire consequences for other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.\u2002American democracy in further decline<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The functioning of American democratic institutions may look as lively as a circus, with politicians of all stripes showing off themselves one after another.\u2002But\u2002however boisterous the show is, it cannot hide the lethargy in addressing the long-standing, grave problems. Le Monde\u2002points\u2002out that 2022 is\u2002a year of doubt for US democracy. A\u2002silent civil war has taken root in the US, and repairing damaged democracy requires a sense of nation and public interest,\u2002both\u2002of which are currently lacking.\u2002This\u2002is sad for a country that has long held itself up as a model.\u2002In 2022, the Swedish think tank\u2002International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance added the US\u2002to its \u201clist of regressive democracies\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two years after\u2002the\u2002Capitol\u2002riots on 6 January 2021, the US system of democracy still has difficulty in learning the lessons, as political violence continued to grow and deteriorate. The Washington Post\u2002and The New Yorker<\/em>\u2002observe that American democracy is\u2002in a worse state than ever before, with the congressional riots fully exposing\u2002social rifts, political divisions and rampant misinformation. The two\u2002parties, although not unaware of\u2002the 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.\u2002<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, the US Congress was brought into another paralysis,\u2002not by\u2002riots, but\u2002by\u2002partisan fights. The farce of failing to elect the 118th House\u2002speaker lasted four days and a decision was only reached after 15 rounds of voting. In the last round, divisions were such that Republicans and Democrats voted strictly along party lines. The New York Times<\/em>\u2002warned that\u2002Congress could see repeated chaos like this\u2002over the next two years.\u2002Brad Bannon, president of a US\u2002political consultancy, put it bluntly,\u2002\u201cThe impasse in\u2002the US House of Representatives over the election of the Speaker is another demonstration of the decline in our political institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This has aroused concerns among the general public.\u2002The Brookings Institution concludes in a 2022\u2002report that\u2002the once proud American democracy is\u2002facing a systemic crisis and is\u2002accelerating its decline. The\u2002impact\u2002is spreading to all fronts\u2002in\u2002domestic politics,\u2002the\u2002economy and society,\u2002posing a mortal threat to the legitimacy and health of capitalism.\u2002The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace warns in a report that American democracy is\u2002at a dangerous inflection\u2002point,\u2002declining faster as the inherent ills of American capitalism worsen. Multiple challenges such as voting restrictions, election\u2002fraud, and loss of trust in government are\u2002accelerating\u2002the disintegration of American democracy. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, writes\u2002that America\u2019s dysfunctional politics raises fears that the\u20022024 presidential election would again provoke deadly violence in the country. A large number of hot\u2002button issues continued\u2002to provoke public anger and questions on the legitimacy of the US political establishment. Many worried about how long American\u2002democracy could\u2002continue to function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.\u2002Political polarization intensified by partisan\u2002fights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With radical factions rising in both the Democratic\u2002and Republican\u2002Parties,\u2002the two were\u2002increasingly at odds\u2002in\u2002many aspects, such as\u2002voter base, ideology and identity. As a result, the\u2002traditional inter-party balance based on policy compromise became more difficult to sustain. The two parties saw\u2002each other not only as political opponents, but also as a threat to the country. The New York Review of Books<\/em> points\u2002out that America\u2002is already \u201ca binational state\u201d with the Republicans\u2002and Democrats\u2002leading two sharply opposed national communities that effectively operate as confederations under a single federal government. The United States of America has\u2002become the\u2002disunited states.\u2002The discord between \u201cthe two Americas\u201d was\u2002deepening day by day, and political polarization reached an unprecedented level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amid the escalating political battles, politicians put the interests of their political parties and factions above those of the country and acted in an unbridled way to attack and pin blames on each other.\u2002On 8 August\u20022022, law enforcement\u2002raided former President Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago residence, and Trump accused\u2002the Justice Department of\u2002playing politics to stop his second presidential bid and of political persecution. The Republicans, on their part, were relentless on the discovery of\u2002classified documents in President Joe Biden\u2019s residence, launched investigations into the Biden administration\u2019s\u2002withdrawal from Afghanistan\u2002and demanded\u2002accountability.\u2002US\u2002state apparatus was reduced to a tool for political\u2002parties\u2019\u2002self-interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Party politics increasingly followed\u2002race and identity\u2002lines. According to the\u2002Financial Times<\/em>, 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\u2002political ends. When one\u2002party loses, its voters feel as though\u2002their America\u2002is being occupied by a foreign power. Political scientist Barbara Walter\u2002considers\u2002the US \u201ca factionalized anocracy\u201d \u2014 the halfway state between autocracy and democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political polarization\u2002was more of an obstacle to policy decision-making. GovTrack<\/em>,\u2002an online non-governmental source of legislative information and statistics, reveals a steady fall in\u2002the number of laws successive US Congresses could enact \u2014\u2002from 4,247 by\u2002the 93th to 98th\u2002Congresses down to 2,081 by\u2002the 111st to 116th. The drop\u2002was even more pronounced\u2002when one considers how many bills could become laws,\u2002from 6%\u2002in the 106th\u2002Congress to 1%\u2002in the 116th, a slide\u2002of 5 percentage points over two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tactics used in partisan fights were more scandalous.\u2002Professor Larry Diamond of Political Science and Sociology at Stanford University believes\u2002the norms of democracy, such as self-restraint in the exercise\u2002of power and rejection of violence, which should have been observed by the participating parties in elections, have begun disintegrating in the US.\u2002A 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. And as common political ground vanishes, rising proportions of Americans in both camps express attitudes and perceptions that are blinking red for democratic peril. Democracy in the US is at serious risk of breaking down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.\u2002Money politics surged<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMake money your\u2002god, and it will plague you like the devil,\u201d\u2002so admonished British playwright Henry Fielding.\u2002In the US, money is the breast milk of politics\u2002and elections increasingly morph into\u2002monologues of the wealthy, while the public call\u2002for democracy is made only\u2002\u201ca jarring note\u201d.\u2002With the\u2002devil\u2002of money lurking in\u2002every corner of American politics, fairness and justice is naturally strained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u2002latest illustration is the\u20022022 midterm elections. The whole exercise has a price tag\u2002of more than US$16.7 billion\u2002\u2014 breaking the 2018\u2002record\u2002of US$14 billion\u2002\u2014 as found by\u2002Reveal, an online platform\u2002tracking\u2002the flow of\u2002political donations\u2002in the country. This amount dwarfs\u2002the\u20022021\u2002GDPs\u2002of more than 70 countries. Federal Senate races in some states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Ohio sucked in\u2002more than US$100 million on average. Over\u200290%\u2002of those elected\u2002as lawmakers\u2002won by splurging funds. It was impossible to identify how much\u2002\u201cdark\u2002money\u201d, or funds from undisclosed sources, was involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n American politics has increasingly revealed its nature as the \u201cgame of the rich\u201d.\u2002US think tank the Brennan Center for Justice\u2002finds that the top 21 families making political donations contributed at least US$15 million each, totaling US$783 million,\u2002far more than the US$3.7 million of small donations. Billionaires provided\u200215.4%\u2002of federal election funds, and most of it\u2002went\u2002to super PACs that can accept unlimited donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u2002enormous\u2002bills\u2002did not bring\u2002effective national governance\u2002in return. They only\u2002stimulated pork barrel politics. An article on Lianhe Zaobao\u2002observes<\/em> that\u2002the past few decades has witnessed a decay in Western democracy.\u2002Wealth is\u2002increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, making the poor poorer and the rich richer. Politics is\u2002controlled by the rich and politicians to serve their own interests. Despite a\u2002right to vote, the public does\u2002not\u2002have real sway over\u2002politics. This sense of powerlessness and loss of confidence in\u2002political\u2002parties and government has given rise to populism, and the problem remains unresolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.\u2002\u201cFreedom of speech\u201d\u2002in name only<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The United States has always prided itself on free speech. In reality, however, freedom of speech in the United States is upheld according to self-centered \u201cUS standards\u201d. Partisan interest and money politics have become the \u201ctwo big mountains\u201d that weigh on free speech. Any speech that is detrimental to the interests of the US government or capital is subject to strict restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US government has all-encompassing regulations on media and technology companies to intervene in public opinion. In December 2022, Twitter CEO Elon Musk and journalist Matt Taibbi posted back-to-back tweets that exposed \u201cTwitter files\u201d, revealing that the US government is heavily scrutinizing all social media companies. Sometimes it directly intervenes in big media companies\u2019 reporting, like frequently having Google remove certain links. Twitter censored sensitive information about presidential candidates ahead of the 2020 election, creating \u201cblacklists\u201d to limit the exposure of unpopular accounts and even hot topics, and working with the FBI to monitor social media content, all the while giving the US military the green light to spread disinformation online. All this has undoubtedly torn off the fig leaf of free speech in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Capital and interest groups basically can get anything they want when it comes to public opinion. In the face of capital and interest groups,\u2002American media\u2019s \u201cfreedom of speech\u201d smacks of hypocrisy.\u2002Most American media\u2002firms\u2002are privately owned and serve the powerful and the rich. Whether it\u2019s\u2002the owner of the media or the investment and advertisement income that the media depends on, all of them are related to\u2002capital and interest groups. In his book The Hypocritical Superpower,\u2002Micheal Lueders, a well-known German writer and media professional, elaborated\u2002in detail how the \u201cfiltering mechanism\u201d\u2002of American media, under the\u2002influence of interest groups, chooses and distorts facts. In January 2023, Project Veritas, an American right-wing group, published a video about Pfizer\u2002that went viral. It recorded\u2002Jordon\u2002Trishton Walker, a senior executive at Pfizer, saying\u2002that Pfizer was exploring plans to \u201cmutate\u201d the coronavirus, that the coronavirus vaccine business was a \u201ccash cow\u201d, and that US regulators had vested interests in\u2002drug companies. To deal with the PR crisis, in addition to issuing a\u2002statement, Pfizer even had YouTube remove the video immediately on ground of \u201cviolating community guidelines\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US uses social media to manipulate international public opinion. In December 2022, the independent investigation website \u201cThe Intercept\u201d\u2002revealed that agencies affiliated to the US Department of Defense had long interfered in public opinion in Middle Eastern countries by\u2002manipulating topics and waging deceptive propaganda on social media such as Twitter. In July 2017, US Central Command official Nathaniel Kahler sent to the Twitter public policy team a form containing 52 Arabic-language accounts, asking for priority services for six of them. Following Kahler\u2019s request, Twitter put these\u2002Arabic accounts on a \u201cwhite list\u201d\u2002to amplify messages favorable to the United States.\u2002Eric Sperling, executive director of Just\u2002Foreign Policy, an anti-war organization, commented on this incident that\u2002Congress and social media companies should investigate and take action to ensure that, at the very least, the\u2002citizens are fully informed when their tax money is being spent on putting a positive spin on the\u2002endless wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In September 2022, the explosion of the \u201cNord Stream\u201d natural gas pipeline shocked the world, and the international community\u2002was eager to know the identity and motive of the perpetrator. On\u20028\u2002February 2023, Pulitzer\u2002Prize-winning veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published\u2002an article exposing\u2002the US government as the culprit of\u2002the incident. However, American and European\u2002mainstream media, known for their\u2002sensitivity\u2002to such scoops,\u2002stayed eerily quiet on\u2002this piece of explosive\u2002news. As observed by Canadian website\u2002Western Standard<\/em>\u2002and German television\u2002channel ZDF, Hersh\u2019s report was one of the biggest stories\u2002of the decade, but few media in North America wanted to talk about it\u2002because\u2002the West does not want anyone to find out about the truth and the surveillance technologies\u2002it has deployed in the Baltic Sea. Western media even try to bypass the crux of the issue by questioning\u2002the authenticity of Hersh\u2019s report. On 15\u2002February, Hersh wrote another article,\u2002accusing the US government and mainstream media of covering up the truth of the \u201cNord Stream\u201d pipeline explosion. Analysts pointed out that given\u2002Western media\u2019s obedience to the US, their\u2002blocking of Hersh\u2019s revelations is not surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.\u2002The judicial system blind to\u2002public opinion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As an\u2002institution\u2002undergirding the\u2002country\u2019s Constitution, the US Supreme Court, like the American society, has become deeply divided. Judicial power\u2002is hijacked by public opinion, and partisan\u2002struggle\u2002has spread to the judicial system. Increasingly, Supreme Court decisions reflect the huge chasm\u2002between \u201ctwo Americas\u201d\u2014the conservatives\u2002and liberals,\u2002and have\u2002been reduced to a tool of political warfare. The\u2002\u201cseparation of powers\u201d\u2002is constantly being eroded. Partisanship has abandoned tradition and crossed the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both parties pursue\u2002their agenda by changing the political orientation of the Supreme Court. The presidential election has in some ways become a partisan battle for the right to appoint judges. The passing away of Supreme Court\u2002justices gave Trump the opportunity to appoint during his term three\u2002justices who took a conservative stance, giving conservative justices an overwhelming advantage over liberal ones. After Trump, radical white evangelical fundamentalists have taken the reins of the Supreme Court, according to an article on the South African website Daily Maverick<\/em>. It\u2019s hardly surprising that the Supreme Court almost always makes decisions in favor of Christian evangelicals, big corporations and the Republican Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US Supreme Court\u2019s decision on abortion rights fully demonstrates the consequences of being involved in partisan warfare and out of touch with society. On 24\u2002June 2022, the Supreme Court flagrantly\u2002endorsed\u2002religious conservatism by overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and removing constitutional protections for women\u2019s abortion rights. The decision triggered\u2002protests 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\u2002\u201cHaaretz\u201d\u2002commented that on\u2002the issue of abortion rights, the Supreme Court has undermined\u2002democracy\u2002in the name of defending it, which is a typical case of \u201ctyranny\u2002of the minority\u201d. Here is an unrepresentative Supreme Court, with its\u2002justices appointed by an unrepresentative president\u2002and\u2002confirmed by an obviously\u2002unrepresentative Senate; but it has made a decision that will affect the United States till 2030, 2040, and even 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Supreme Court also struck down a New York state law that had been in place since 1913 restricting people from carrying concealed firearms. As the nation reflects on gun violence, such a reckless reversal of New York\u2019s gun control law is intolerable,\u2002noted the governor of New York. American political commentator Matthew Dowd pointed\u2002out that the problems facing the United States today are rooted in the fragmentation of democracy. What American citizens want are a fair ruling in Roe v. Wade, a real gun reform, higher minimum wages, steeper\u2002taxes on the super-rich, better\u2002health care for all, and other reforms that heed popular calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6.\u2002Americans\u2002increasingly disillusioned with American democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Americans\u2019\u2002pride in their democracy has dropped sharply, from 90%\u2002in 2002 to 54%\u2002in 2022, according to a joint Washington Post-University of Maryland survey. A\u2002poll by the\u2002Public Policy Institute of California\u2002shows that\u2002Californian\u2002voters have widespread concern that American democracy is going\u2002off track, with 62%\u2002saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, 46%\u2002pessimistic about the prospect of Americans with different political views working together to resolve differences, and 52%\u2002dissatisfied with the current way American democracy works. According to a\u2002Quinnipiac University poll, 67%\u2002of respondents believe that American democracy is in danger of collapse, and 48%\u2002think there could be another\u2002Capitol riot in the United States. According to a\u2002Pew Center poll, 65%\u2002of Americans believe that the American democratic system needs major reforms, while 57%\u2002of respondents believe the United States is no longer a model of democracy. A\u2002UCLA study shows that the US government has been losing its ability to govern and its sense of democratic responsibility in recent years, and lacks effective measures to push forward large-scale reforms\u2002or\u2002address issues such as electoral justice and media fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n III. The United States\u2019 imposition of\u2002\u201cdemocracy\u201d has\u2002caused chaos around the world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In spite of all the problems facing its own democracy, the United States refuses to\u2002reflect on itself, but instead continues to export American democratic values to other countries,\u2002and 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Foreign policy held hostage by political polarization<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPolitics stops at the water\u2019s edge\u201d 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\u2002foreign affairs. However, with the intensification of political polarization, Democrats and Republicans are increasingly divided on major foreign affairs\u2002issues, and America\u2019s\u2002foreign policy has become more and more \u201cextreme\u201d. \u201cPolitics crossing the water\u2019s edge\u201d has become the norm. It is not only harmful to many developing countries, but also poses a threat to America\u2019s own allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. The most typical is in 2021, when the US intelligence agency issued the so-called origins-tracing\u2002report, which, in total disregard of science, fabricated the \u201clab leak\u201d story\u2002and claimed that China lacked transparency and obstructed international investigations. Tracing the origins of the coronavirus is a matter of science, but\u2002the true purpose of the US\u2019 doing is to obscure the views of the public and manipulate the issue to shift the blame onto\u2002China and suppress and contain China. This fully exposes the hypocrisy of American democracy and the ill effects\u2002of political polarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the Biden administration, the US ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan\u2002with a hasty withdrawal of troops. It just walked away, after shattering\u2002a whole country\u2002and\u2002destroying\u2002the future of several generations. Although its troops have left, the US government continued to\u2002sanction\u2002Afghanistan, and illegally froze the assets of the Afghan central bank, making life even worse for the local people.\u2002A\u2002UN-backed report published in May 2022 showed\u2002that nearly 20 million people in Afghanistan were facing acute hunger. Even after the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan in June 2022, the US still refused to lift the sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political polarization in the US is spilling over. According to a report released by the University of Ottawa,\u2002there 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\u2002Canada\u2002must be reflected upon. Professor Gordon Laxer at the University of Alberta believes the forces moving the US\u2002toward autocracy already exist. It is ingrained among Canadians that the US is their greatest friend and will always champion democracy.\u2002That can no longer be taken for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.\u2002Inciting confrontation and conflict\u2002in the name of democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Democracy is a common value of\u2002humanity and must not be used as a tool to advance geopolitical agenda\u2002or counter human development and progress. However, in order to maintain its hegemony, the US\u2002has long been monopolizing the definition of \u201cdemocracy\u201d,\u2002instigating division and confrontation\u2002in the name of democracy, and undermining the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since its outbreak in early 2022, the Ukraine crisis\u2002has hit the country\u2019s economy and the livelihood of its people hard. 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\u2019s total economic output for the whole year of 2021,\u2002to rebuild after the war.\u2002The US saw the Ukraine crisis as a\u2002lucrative 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. It described its arms supply to Ukraine as a move to support \u201cdemocracy versus authoritarianism\u201d. A July 2022\u2002report by\u2002Serbia\u2019s Center for Strategic Prognosis pointed out that the US saw Russia\u2019s 1999 attack on Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, as a crime, but called a similar American operation in Fallujah, an Iraqi city about the size of Grozny, liberation. America\u2019s so-called democracy has long been hijacked by interest groups and capital, and brought instability and chaos to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In August 2022, then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a provocative visit to China\u2019s Taiwan region\u2002in disregard of China\u2019s firm opposition and serious representations. It was a major political provocation that upgraded official contact between the US\u2002and Taiwan, and aggravated tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Yet, Pelosi argued that the visit \u201chonors America\u2019s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan\u2019s vibrant democracy\u201d. The crux of Pelosi\u2019s provocative visit is not about democracy, but China\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The US action was by no means defending or preserving democracy, but challenging and violating China\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pelosi\u2019s fallacy was unbearable even to some US politicians. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Greene challenged Pelosi, saying that \u201cAmericans have had enough with a woman obsessed with her own power she\u2019s held for decades while our entire country crumbles … Enough of this fake \u2018courage\u2019 defending democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The international community is seeing the US approach more and more clearly. Dmitry Medvedev,\u2002Deputy Chairman\u2002of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, wrote that the US, as a self-proclaimed \u201chigh priest\u201d, has wreaked havoc around the world under the disguise of \u201ctrue democracy\u201d, and used money, allies and high-end weapons to crudely impose its will. An article published on Ahram Online, an Egyptian news website, argued that \u201cliberalism\u201d and \u201cdemocracy\u201d had been turned into\u2002a weaponized ideology that the US uses to destabilize other countries, delegitimize their governments, and intervene with forms of sociopolitical engineering that often backfires in drastic ways. None of it has to do with the liberalism, democracy and freedom the US claims to promote.\u2002Chairman of the Indonesian People\u2019s Wave Party\u2002Anis Matta\u2002pointed out that American cleverness is making other countries a battlefield. Anti-China sentiment and polarization in Indonesia are also America\u2019s work. Muslims must understand that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.\u2002Doubling down on unilateral sanctions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the pretext of human rights and democracy, the US\u2002has long been using unilateral sanctions and \u201clong-arm jurisdiction\u201d against other countries based on its domestic laws and its own values. In the past decades, the US\u2002imposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction on Cuba, Belarus, Syria, Zimbabwe and other countries, placed maximum pressure on countries including the DPRK, Iran\u2002and Venezuela, and unilaterally froze US$130 million in military aid to Egypt under the excuse of the country\u2019s lack of progress in human rights.\u2002Such actions have seriously damaged the economic development and people\u2019s livelihood in the countries\u2002concerned, and jeopardized\u2002the right to life, the right to self-determination\u2002and the right to development, constituting\u2002a continual, systematic and massive violation of human rights in other countries. In recent years, US unilateral sanctions\u2002have been increasing and its \u201clong arm\u201d has been extending\u2002further. In order to preserve its hegemony, the US has wilfully\u2002harmed the interests of other countries, especially the legitimate and lawful interests of developing countries, in disregard of international law and the basic norms of international relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An article published by the Turkish Anadolu News Agency in March 2022 argued that in the name of promoting democracy, the US invaded Iraq on unsubstantiated grounds and brought immense sufferings to the local population. First, the abuse of sanctions aggravated livelihood\u2002challenges. Between 1990 and 2003, the severe economic sanctions by the US took a heavy toll on the local economy and the well-being of the Iraqi people. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization,\u2002the hunger rate in Iraq reached a very high level as a result of the US sanctions and embargo. Between 1990 and 1995 alone, 500,000 Iraqi children died of hunger and poor living conditions. Second, the incessant\u2002war caused enormous civilian casualties. According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, about 120,000 Iraqi civilians were killed between 2003, when the US started the Iraq War,\u2002and 2011, when the US announced its withdrawal. Third, the\u2002imposed political model failed to adapt. The US forced the American-style democracy upon Iraq in disregard\u2002of the latter\u2019s national conditions, only to aggravate the political fight between different factions in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The unilateral sanctions imposed by the US fully demonstrate its arrogance and indifference toward humanitarianism. On 11 February\u20022022, President Biden signed an executive order to split in half the US$7 billion in Afghan central bank\u2002assets frozen in the US. Half of the assets were to fund financial compensations for 9\/11 victims, and the other half were transferred to an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Such blatant stealing from the Afghan people has been widely condemned by the international community. SINDOnews.com, a news website of Indonesia, reported in March 2022 that people of Afghan descent rallied at the US Embassy in Jakarta to protest the US government\u2019s looting of\u2002assets\u2002from the Afghan government. The indignant protesters argued that the assets of the former Afghan government belonged to the Afghan people\u2002and should be used to aid the Afghan people who were experiencing an economic crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Undermining democracy in international relations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n International affairs bear on the\u2002common interests of mankind, and should be conducted through consultation by all countries. Yet,\u2002the US has never truly observed the principle of democracy in international relations. Under the pretext of \u201cmultilateralism\u201d\u2002and \u201cinternational rules\u201d,\u2002and clinging to the\u2002Cold War mentality, the US\u2002has exercised fake multilateralism and bloc politics, instigated\u2002division and antagonism, created\u2002bloc confrontation, and practiced unilateralism in the name of multilateralism. Its hegemonic, domineering and bullying acts seriously impede the development of true multilateralism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US\u2002places 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\u2002and the Treaty on Open Skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US flagrantly violates the purposes\u2002and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, waging wars and creating division and conflict\u2002across the world. Throughout its history\u2002of 240-plus years, the US has been at peace for only 16 years\u2002\u2014 it is indeed the most belligerent country in world history. Since the end of World War II, the US has waged or participated in many wars overseas, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, which caused immense\u2002civilian casualties and property losses\u2002as well as\u2002humanitarian catastrophes. Since 2001, the wars and military operations that the US\u2002launched in the name of fighting terrorism have killed more than 900,000 people, including some 335,000 civilians, injured millions and displaced tens of millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paying no heed to the\u2002United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea<\/em>\u2002and\u2002principles of international law, or to\u2002the democratic rights\u2002of\u2002Asia-Pacific countries\u2002and Pacific island countries in regional and international affairs,\u2002the US has emboldened\u2002Japan by expressly supporting its decision to discharge the nuclear waste water from Fukushima, even though\u2002the government of Japan has not yet fully consulted\u2002stakeholders and relevant international agencies\u2002on the disposal,\u2002not yet provided sufficient scientific and factual grounds for its behavior, and\u2002not yet addressed\u2002the legitimate concerns\u2002of the international community. On the other hand, the US administration, citing \u201cradionuclide contamination\u201d,\u2002banned the import of Japanese food and agricultural products from\u2002areas around Fukushima, exposing the hypocrisy of typical US-style double standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advancing\u2002the Cold War mentality in the South Pacific region, the \u2002US has ganged up\u2002with the UK\u2002and Australia to put\u2002together AUKUS, a racist clique, and pledged to help Australia build at least eight nuclear submarines together with the\u2002UK. The move constitutes a serious violation of the principles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons\u2002and the\u2002South Pacific Nuclear\u2002Free Zone\u2002Treaty<\/em>, treading a reckless line on the brink of nuclear proliferation\u2002and creating tremendous risks.\u2002It has also opened\u2002the\u2002Pandora\u2019s box\u2002of regional arms race, casting a shadow over regional peace, security and stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to\u2002the ninth Summit of the Americas\u2002in June 2022, Julio Yao, a Panamanian expert on international issues, wrote in local media that today\u2019s US is an absolute\u2002renegade\u2002of\u2002international law, and the most genuinely authentic personification of the use of brute force in international relations. The US\u2002is the only country that has not signed or ratified any\u2002human rights treaty,\u2002and is not a party to the\u2002United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea<\/em>. It\u2002is the only country that does not ban secret biological weapons, with more than 200 laboratories outside its borders. The only thing that the US intends to do with the Summit of the Americas is to involve\u2002Latin America\u2002and the Caribbean\u2002in\u2002the war in Ukraine and to divide and weaken them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In August 2022, a\u2002South China Morning Post<\/em>\u2002article\u2002noted that the so-called \u201cdemocracies\u201d of the US and the West have been relentlessly chipping away at the foundations of international rules and exploiting them when it\u2019s convenient. While the US and the West denounce Russia\u2019s \u201cinvasion\u201d of Ukraine, they forget their serial interventions, subversions and interference across the globe. What the US did has smashed up the world economy, thereby exposing more middle-income countries to debt crises. When the big powers are selective in following the rules they wrote, the whole system loses credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Foisting a trumped-up narrative of \u201cdemocracy versus authoritarianism\u201d\u2002<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Harboring the Cold War mentality, a hegemonic logic and a preference for bloc politics, the US administration has framed a narrative of \u201cdemocracy versus authoritarianism\u201d, and labeled countries as \u201cautocracies\u201d, with a view to using ideology and values as a tool to suppress other countries and advance its own geostrategy\u2002under the disguise of democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021, the US\u2002held\u2002the first\u2002\u201cSummit for Democracy\u201d, attempting to divide the international community into so-called \u201cdemocratic and undemocratic camps\u201d\u2002by openly drawing an ideological line. The move drew\u2002questions\u2002extensively, including\u2002from within\u2002the US. Both Foreign Affairs\u2002and The Diplomat<\/em>\u2002carried articles\u2002criticizing the summit as chasing\u2002the wrong goal, not only failing to achieve unity among democratic countries, but also drawing criticism for the representation issue. The US\u2002has long lacked a set goal in its promotion of democracy around the world, and has been slow in following up its\u2002rhetoric. When\u2002democracy in the US is in such a mess, holding a democracy summit cannot boost democracy around the world, but more\u2002likely create a greater geopolitical crisis. Hitoshi Tanaka, Chairman of the Institute for International Strategy of Japan, pointed out that the US has been imposing \u201cdemocracy\u201d\u2002on other countries, advancing the \u201cdemocracy versus authoritarianism\u201d\u2002campaign, and expanding global division. Japan should not blindly follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To brand oneself\u2002as democracy while\u2002others as autocracies\u2002is in itself an act contrary to democracy. The so-called \u201cdemocracy versus authoritarianism\u201d narrative does not reflect the realities of today\u2019s world, nor is it in line with the trend of the times. \u201cBelarus\u20021\u201d, a\u2002state television\u2002station of Belarus,\u2002commented that\u2002the list\u2002of participants\u2002to the summit was clearly based on the US standard of \u201cfreedom\u201d,\u2002but the question was how could\u2002the US\u2002believe that\u2002it could monopolize the definition and interpretation\u2002of democracy, and tell others what democracy should look like.\u2002Singapore\u2019s Straits Times<\/em>\u2002carried a column that said\u2002the 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite unprecedentedly low ratings of US democracy at home and abroad, the country\u2019s hysteria\u2002to export US-style\u2002democracy and values\u2002continues unabated. The US\u2002has not only cobbled together values-based alliances\u2002such as\u2002AUKUS, the Quad and the Five Eyes, but also\u2002attempted\u2002to disrupt and undermine\u2002normal international cooperation\u2002in economy, trade, science, technology, culture\u2002and people-to-people exchanges by drawing ideological lines and trumpeting\u2002the\u2002Cold War mentality.\u2002Al Jazeera\u2002observed\u2002that the US\u2002insistence on holding a democracy summit and acting as a global democratic leader even\u2002when trust in its own\u2002democratic system is declining\u2002has raised\u2002widespread suspicion. James Goldgeier,\u2002professor of international relations at\u2002American University, said the US\u2002has lost\u2002its\u2002credibility,\u2002and 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\u2002how can the US spread democracy or act as an example for others if it barely has a functioning democracy at home. The South China Morning Post<\/em>\u2002pointed out that the summit reflected two myths about US democracy: First, global advance of democracy\u2002since the end of the Cold War\u2002is backsliding and it needs the US to reverse it; second, the US is the most important democracy in the world\u2002and its global leadership is paramount for other countries. These two myths completely ignore the democratic backsliding in the US, the rejection of the overwhelming majority of countries\u2002to being\u2002kidnapped by the\u2002hypocritical \u201cconcept of democracy\u201d of the US, and the strong desire of developing countries to grow their\u2002economies\u2002and raise living standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n IV. Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Democracy is humanity\u2019s\u2002common value; however, there is no single model of political system that is applicable to all countries in the world. Human civilization, if compared to a garden, should be a diverse place in which democracy in different countries blooms like a hundred flowers.\u2002The US\u2002has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy, and other countries\u2002have their\u2002own unique models\u2002of democracy that suit\u2002their respective\u2002national conditions. It should be up to the people of a country to judge whether the\u2002country is democratic or not and how to better promote democracy\u2002in their country. The few self-righteous countries have no right to point fingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who have many flaws themselves have little credibility to lecture others. Attempts to undermine others for one\u2019s own profit and destabilize the world must be unanimously opposed. A black-and-white division of countries as democratic\u2002or\u2002authoritarian is both anachronistic and arbitrary. What\u2002our world needs today is not to stoke\u2002division in the name of democracy and\u2002pursue de facto supremacy-oriented\u2002unilateralism, but to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and uphold true multilateralism\u2002on the basis of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. What\u2002our world needs today is not\u2002to interfere in other countries\u2019\u2002internal affairs under the guise of democracy, but to advocate genuine democracy, reject\u2002pseudo-democracy and jointly promote\u2002greater democracy in international relations. What\u2002our world needs today is not a \u201cSummit for Democracy\u201d that hypes up\u2002confrontation and contributes nothing to the collective response to global challenges, but a conference of solidarity that focuses on taking real actions to solve prominent global challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Freedom, democracy and human rights are the common pursuit of humanity,\u2002and values that the Communist Party of China\u2002(CPC) always pursues. China commits\u2002to and advances\u2002whole-process\u2002people\u2019s democracy, and\u2002puts into action the principle of people running the\u2002country in the CPC\u2019s exercise of national governance in specific and concrete ways. China\u2002stands ready\u2002to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with other countries on the issue of democracy, advocate\u2002humanity\u2019s common values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, promote greater democracy in international relations, and make new and greater contributions to\u2002human progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"