US using democracy as weapon of mass destruction, says China

Beijing, December 11

China on Saturday accused the US of using democracy as a “weapon of mass destruction” to “stoke divisions and confrontation” as it slammed the Summit for Democracy organised by the Biden administration, which Beijing portrays as a new front being formed by America to isolate it to halt its rise.

The two-day summit attended by over 100 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concluded on Friday with a call to evaluate progress in safeguarding fair elections, protecting human rights and fighting corruption.

While the US omitted China and Russia from the list of invitees, Beijing was furious over the invitation to the self-governing island Taiwan, which China said is a blatant violation of the “One China” policy that considers Taipei as the integral part of the Chinese mainland.

In what could be Taiwan’s most high-profile international conference for decades, its minister without portfolio Audrey Tang and Hsiao Bi-khim, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, took part in the summit.

Tang, who spoke at a panel discussion on ‘Countering Digital Authoritarianism and Affirming Democratic Values’, said governments should work with civil society groups to develop digital democracy to tackle the various challenges facing the world, Taiwan media reports said.

Wrapping up the summit, Biden said, “A final message I want to impart as we close out this Summit for Democracy is that we know how hard the work is going to be ahead of us. But we also know we are up to the challenge.”

He said the two-day virtual gathering had demonstrated that the democratic world was everywhere. Biden said autocracies could never extinguish the embers of liberty that burns in the hearts of people around the world, in every portion of the world.

“We’re committed to working with all who share those values, to shape the rules of the road that are going to govern our progress in the 21st century, including on issues of cybersecurity and emerging technologies so that future generations continue to reap the benefits of liberty and democracy, as we have,” he said. — PTI