China calls US democracy weapon of mass destruction after US summit

China, along with Russia and Hungary, was left out of the two-day virtual summit and reacted angrily by accusing US Vice President Joe Biden of stoking Cold War-era ideological divides.

“‘Democracy’ has long become a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ used by the US to interfere in other countries,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in an online statement, which also accused the US of having “instigated ‘colour revolutions'” overseas.

Also Read | January 6 panel subpoenas six who helped plan Donald Trump rallies

The US summit, according to the ministry, was held to “draw lines of ideological prejudice, instrumentalise and weaponise democracy… (and) incite division and confrontation.” 

Instead, Beijing has pledged to “resolutely resist and oppose all kinds of pseudo-democracies”. 

China stepped up its propaganda campaign criticising US democracy as corrupt and a failure in the run-up to the summit. 

Instead, in a white paper released last week to help bolster legitimacy for the ruling Communist Party, which has become increasingly authoritarian under President Xi Jinping, it promoted its own version of “whole-process people’s democracy”.

Despite the United States’ repeated denials that a new Cold War with China is imminent, tensions between the world’s two largest economies have risen in recent years over issues such as trade and technological competition, human rights, Xinjiang, and Taiwan. 

Also Read | Trump swore at Netanyahu for congratulating Biden on 2020 victory: Book

Two high-ranking Chinese officials were sanctioned by the US Treasury on Friday for human rights violations in the Xinjiang region, and Chinese AI surveillance firm SenseTime was placed on a blacklist for using facial recognition technology to target the Uyghur minority. 

In a clear snub to its larger neighbour, Taiwan, a democratic self-governing island claimed by China, was invited to the US summit.

In the middle of Biden’s summit, however, Beijing received a boost when Nicaragua ended its previous diplomatic alliance with Taiwan, declaring that it only recognised China. 

Taiwan now has only 14 diplomatic allies as a result of the announcement. The US State Department responded by urging “all countries that value democratic institutions” to “enhance engagement” with the island.