The world doesn't need "Summit of Division"

BEIJING, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-proposed "Summit for Democracy" is actually a "Summit of Division" that undermines human solidarity. The United States attempts to weaponize democracy and use it as a tool to maintain hegemony.

Problems like money politics, identity politics, wrangling between political parties, political polarization, social division, racial tension and the wealth gap have become more and more acute. All these have made American democracy dysfunctional.

The United States is not a "model of democracy." What qualifications does it have to judge the democracy of other countries?

Democracy is a concept that is constantly evolving. Rooted in history, culture and tradition, it takes diverse forms and develops along the paths chosen by different peoples based on their exploration and innovation.

The United States, however, is seeking to determine which countries are democratic and which are not based on its own assumptions, an attempt to privatize democracy. It is a betrayal of the democratic spirit.

Looking at those countries where the United States has forcibly "exported" democracy, it is not uncommon to see persistent chaos, stagnant development and humanitarian disasters.

A research report issued on Monday titled "Ten Questions for American Democracy" pointed out that about 241,000 people have been killed in the Afghan war since 2001; about 183,000 to 206,000 Iraqi civilians died in the violence after 2003; about 20.7 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance. This begs the question, does "American democracy" bring development and prosperity to other countries or disaster and turmoil?

As the world cries out for unity in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is sowing division in the international community by dividing countries and regions into democratic and non-democratic camps.

What the world needs is not a "Summit of Division," but efforts to uphold true multilateralism based on the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and jointly deal with common challenges. The farce of the so-called "Summit for Democracy" is doomed to become a joke in the history of democracy.