World experts call for respect for diversity of democracy

BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Experts at a recent international forum here have said that expressions of democracy across the world vary and such a diversity must be respected.

The International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values concluded in Beijing late Wednesday night after world experts held heated discussions on the topic of diversity of democracy.

Bhokin Bhalakula, former Thai deputy prime minister and president of the Thai-Chinese Culture and Economy Association, said there are different models of democratic governance, and "it is not possible to determine which model is good or bad, or right or wrong, due to the difference in values."

"Democracy must come from responsibility, respect to others, and understanding not only of human rights, but all human values as well," Bhokin said.

"I believe this will guide us to achieve people's well-being in our states and the world together with peace, development and sustainability," he added.

Moin Ul Haque, Pakistani ambassador to China, said the concept of democracy has been celebrated by many civilizations in the past, and "no single country can claim to be the progenitor of democracy and its sole prominent."

"It is undemocratic to measure world's rich political civilization with the monochrome eye or narrow prism of geopolitics," he said.

"Any attempts to impose a particular style of democracy had never succeeded in the past" and would fail in the future, he added.

Stressing the need to respect a diversity of democratic values, Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King's College of London, said: "It's not possible for us to therefore try and impose a world order which tries to prioritize one set of values over another and create a kind of hierarchy."

"It seems to me that we do have to have an underlying respect for the emerging importance of pluralism and of living in a world in which there are no kind of dominant ideologies," said Brown.

"Pluralism's nature is about embracing difference and about accepting fundamentally different perspectives," he added.

Du Zhanyuan, president of China International Communications Group, said that it has never been easy to achieve democracy and that there are no ready models to copy from. "Countries must explore their own paths by drawing on the shared wisdom of Eastern and Western civilizations," he said.

In this age of unprecedented change, the world faces increasing instability and uncertainties on a turbulent journey to democracy, equality, fairness, and justice, said Du.

"Without a concerted effort from all countries, there is a risk of regression in democracy in global governance, and the true value of democracy will be corroded by populism and hegemonism," he noted.

The forum also launched on Wednesday night the Beijing Initiative: A Global Think Tank Network of Democracy Studies. The initiative calls for upholding and safeguarding democracy as a shared human value and respecting the diversity of civilizations and democracy.

It also suggested evaluating democracy through measuring public satisfaction and voiced strong opposition against confrontation and division in the name of democracy.

The forum, which opened on Dec. 4, was held in three phases.

Over 500 speakers from 120 countries and regions as well as 20 international and regional organizations attended the forum in person or virtually and exchanged views on topics including democracy and national governance, global governance, and democratization of international relations.