My Take | US has become a terrible example of democracy for today’s world
Unlike America, China has never claimed its system of government is universally applicable or tried to impose it by force on other nations
American politicians like to blast China for undermining democracy and spreading authoritarianism around the world.
That’s true to an extent but not in the way it’s usually intended by its claimants. At least China’s ruling system has worked better than most had originally anticipated while that of the United States has not quite worked out as advertised.
So maybe the Chinese experience does have something to offer for at least some developing countries, even though it has never claimed universal application.
That’s far from spreading or imposing its ideological system on the rest of the world, unlike America’s supposed promotion and imposition, often by violent means, of its brand of “democracy” on smaller and weaker countries for more than a century now.
Please note that I make no spectacular claims about the superiority of Chinese rule or the unworkability of Western democracy. I am pretty agnostic about both governing systems as much as I am about the existence of God. Still I would describe myself as “religious” – I do read a lot of canonical religious texts – as much as I am political. I also read a lot of political treatises.
I respect a Muslim as much as a Christian or a Hindu. If you want theocracy or democracy for your government, hey, that’s none of my business.
