China and Russia decry Joe Biden’s plans for democracy summit
- Ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China said the December 9-10 event would ‘stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world’
- The summit is meant to fulfil a campaign pledge by Joe Biden to advance the cause of global democracy
Calling the US plan “an evident product of its Cold-War mentality,” ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China said the December 9-10 event would “stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world, creating new ‘dividing lines.’”
The summit is meant to fulfil a campaign pledge by Biden to advance the cause of global democracy at a time when autocratic governments have been on the rise.
But when the State Department on Tuesday published a list of about 110 invited countries – without including Russia or China – their reaction was furious.
China was especially angered by the inclusion of Taiwan, over which it claims sovereignty.
Writing on the website of conservative journal National Journal, the two ambassadors to the United States said democracy “can be realised in multiple ways, and no model can fit all countries.”
“No country has the right to judge the world’s vast and varied political landscape by a single yardstick,” the ambassadors added.
