US, China democracy summits just the start of a difficult global debate on government and society

The US and China clearly have fundamentally different views on what defines a democracy

Beijing’s attempt to explain its system of governance to the world is a positive move in fostering understanding, but is not meant to be a decisive conclusion

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Jersey Lee

Jersey Lee was an editor at the leading Chinese media organization Guancha.

Published: 3:30am, 17 Dec 2021

The United States last week hosted a Summit for Democracy. China took note and in response prepared its own International Democracy Forum, preemptively releasing a white paper on its own political system called China: Democracy That Works and organising a Dialogue on Democracy.

The two sides are laying out a fundamentally different understanding of what defines a democracy. The American position has been clear for centuries: free and fair elections, the rule of law, an independent judiciary and a guarantee of inalienable rights and freedoms. Certainly, no introduction or event is needed for the US to make its stance known.

China, for its part, has mostly focused on pointing out the issues facing American democracy, including, it claims, social and political polarisation, wealth concentration towards the top 1 per cent, absence of responsibility, low efficiency of governance and low social trust.

China also argues that America’s concept of democracy is not universal and cannot be applied to all societies regardless of historical and social context. It is part of Beijing’s broader argument that the US has no right to criticise China and should refrain from doing so.