BEIJING: China branded US democracy a “weapon of mass destruction” on Saturday, following the US-organised Summit for Democracy which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes.

China was left out of the two-day virtual summit — along with countries including Russia and Hungary — and responded by angrily accusing US President Joe Biden of stoking Cold War-era ideological divides.

“‘Democracy’ has long become a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ used by the US to interfere in other countries,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in an online statement, which also accused the US of having “instigated colour revolutions” overseas.

The ministry also claimed the summit was organised by the US to “draw lines of ideological prejudice, instrumentalise and weaponise democracy... (and) incite division and confrontation.”

Beijing vowed to “resolutely resist and oppose all kinds of pseudo-democracies”.

Ahead of the summit, China ramped up a propaganda blitz criticising US democracy as corrupt and a failure. It touted its own version of “whole-process people’s democracy” in a white paper released last week that aimed to shore up legitimacy for the ruling Communist Party.

While the US has repeatedly denied there will be a cold war with China, tensions between the world’s two largest economies have spiralled in recent years over issues including trade and technological competition, human rights, Xinjiang and Taiwan.

The US Treasury on Friday sanctioned two high-level Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and placed Chinese AI surveillance firm SenseTime on a blacklist for its facial recognition technology targeting the Uyghur minority.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Environment Day
05 Jun, 2023

Environment Day

OUR world is not reusable nor can it be made perishable. As the plastic tide spins out of control, World Environment...
Spending for votes
05 Jun, 2023

Spending for votes

THE cash-strapped government’s plans to boost its annual development spending by as much as 31pc in the next...
On schadenfreude
Updated 05 Jun, 2023

On schadenfreude

Was it a ‘crime’ that he spoke out against the abuses being suffered by PTI workers at the hands of the state?
Surveillance state
Updated 04 Jun, 2023

Surveillance state

IN the midst of the madness, finally some sanity. Questions critical to the right to privacy of citizens bombarded ...
Transport crisis
04 Jun, 2023

Transport crisis

LIKE many other public-sector projects, governments past and present have promised numerous times to ‘revive’ ...
The Buzdar mystery
04 Jun, 2023

The Buzdar mystery

THE departure of former Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar from politics is not really surprising as the PTI is...