Democracy Summit, Sisci: “China risks boomerang effect”

“A first global organization on ideological basis against China”, whose position on “democracy fails to be convincing” and risks “the boomerang effect”. Sinologist Francesco Sisci speaks thus with Adnkronos on the eve of the ‘Summit for Democracy’ convened by Joe Biden for tomorrow and Friday, where the Asian giant “is the guest of stone”, excluded unlike Taiwan. A summit that is part of a climate of tensions between China and the United States, in a “bad phase” after the Biden administration’s announcement of the political boycott of Beijing 2022. In response to the summit last Saturday, the Chinese State Council released the ‘White Paper’ entitled “China: Democracy that works”. That is, “democracy” according to Beijing, a collection of interpretations of the Chinese Communist Party, a document in which it is emphasized that “there is no fixed model of democracy”, which is not a “patent”. “The Chinese position has a series of very interesting openings “, is a” step forward “because” China admits that there is a problem of democracy that must be addressed “, but there are also” a series of logical short-circuits for which the Chinese position fails to be convincing and indeed – says the sinologist – risks the boomerang effect “. While the US considers the ‘White Paper’ “simply a matter of propaganda”. “For America – he continues – this Chinese opening is too little or comes too late” and “America expects much more from China and quickly”. The point, he notes, is that “the Chinese say that democracy it is a right, but it is not a patent “and it would be a position with” perfect logic if this right that the Chinese ask of America were applied by the Beijing government within “the borders of the People’s Republic. “You cannot ask America for the right to democracy and then deny it within China – he insists – There is logical inconsistency”. And “practical”, because “the Chinese say that the two systems must coexist, but – he wonders – what are the rules of coexistence between two systems that are clearly contradictory to each other, which then create a series of short circuits in bilateral relations?” And again, if “it might be interesting for America to explore some of the issues presented by the Chinese”, the “truth” is that “there is a profound problem of America’s trust in China”. “The Americans – he concludes – no longer trust a discussion on principles with China”.