Stoking divisions under the cover of democracy spells disaster, China says as US summit nears

Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterates China’s commitment to Africa while warning against its becoming a ‘game arena for superpowers’

Comments come days ahead of US Summit for Democracy, to which China and several African nations have not been invited

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) with his Tunisian counterpart Othman Jerandi in Dakar, Senegal on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:31pm, 1 Dec 2021Updated: 11:49pm, 1 Dec 2021

Democracy is a common human value and the legitimate right of all countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said, in comments seen as being directed at the US.

This comes as Washington prepares to stage a democracy summit hosted by President Joe Biden next week, with the list of invitees featuring more than 100 governments.

It also comes days after Wang, in a virtual meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, accused the US of imposing its ideology on developing countries.

“The judgment on whether a country is democratic or not should be made by its people, not by the handful of foreign countries,” Wang said on Monday in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, where he had travelled for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) earlier this week.

US President Joe Biden listens as he meets virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping from the White House in Washington on November 15. Photo: AP

At a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Othman Jerandi on the sidelines of the forum, Wang also said: “Drawing ideological lines and stoking new divisions under the cover of democracy is a disaster to the world, not a blessing for all countries.”

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