Democracy not "pretext for imposing hegemony": Chinese spokesperson

BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Tuesday that democracy is not a slogan or a dogma, and should not be used as a pretext for imposing hegemony.

Wang made the remarks at a press briefing in response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's recent comments on the "Summit for Democracy" proposed by the United States. Lavrov said that Washington will choose the participants themselves, which essentially is "quite in the spirit of a Cold War, as it declares a new ideological crusade against all dissenters."

Wang said Lavrov had made a very good point, adding that what the world urgently needs today is not a so-called "summit for democracy" or an "alliance of democracies," but enhanced global coordination and cooperation on the basis of abiding by the norms governing international relations represented by the UN Charter.

One should not use democracy as an excuse to cover up one's own incompetence and failure in governance, and let its people pay a heavy price for rampant racial discrimination, enlarging social divide and widening wealth gap, Wang said.

One should not deprive other countries of the right and freedom to explore their own democratic path, in total disregard of the diversity of history, culture, social system and development stage of countries, he said.

One should not use ideology and values as tools to oppress other countries and advance geopolitical strategy, incite division and confrontation in the international arena and push the world back to the dangerous Cold War era under the banner of democracy, he added.

"Provoking estrangement, division and confrontation in the name of democracy is an act of trampling on and betraying the democratic spirit and values. It will only bring turbulence and chaos to the world and undermine peace and development of mankind," Wang said. "This is bound to be resisted and opposed by the international community."