Democracy is not Coca-Cola tasting all the same across world : China FM

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi says democracy is not Coca-Cola that promises the same taste everywhere in the world, urging Washington to stop its ideological approach to foreign policy.

“Democracy is not Coca-Cola, which, with the syrup produced by the United States, tastes the same across the world. The world will be lifeless and dull if there is only one single model and one single civilization,” Wang said while speaking with the US Council on Foreign Relations via video link on Friday.

The US will be wrong if it assumes that it can model the rest of the world in its own image, he added, insisting that China’s governance system will not imitate models adopted by foreign countries.

The senior Chinese diplomat noted that it was wrong to describe Beijing as “authoritarian” because its democracy “takes a different form than that of the United States.”

Wang emphasized that the United States should refrain from using democracy and human rights as an excuse to interfere in internal affairs of other countries or to provoke confrontation that can lead to “turmoil or disaster.”

The Chinese foreign minister then put forward five suggestions to the United States on ways to view bilateral relations from a strategic perspective and improve them.

He urged the US to understand and view China's development objectively and rationally and work with Beijing on a new path of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

Washington should also respect and tolerate the path and system chosen independently by Beijing and practice multilateralism in real sense while it should stop meddling in China's internal affairs, he said.

Wang added that the Chinese wisdom goes that "a country practicing hegemonism is doomed to fail," rather than "a country will definitely seek hegemony when growing stronger."

He noted that the future of mutual relations depends on whether the United States can accept China's peaceful rise and whether it recognizes the Chinese people’s right to pursue a better life.

The top Chinese diplomat further accused the former US administration under Donald Trump of “disrupting the international system” and failing to fulfill Washington’s global obligations and responsibilities.

He, however, said that Beijing welcomes the new US administration of Joe Biden’s “return to multilateralism” and expressed hope that Washington would practice true multilateralism.

China and the US have been engaged in an intense trade war, kicked off under the Trump administration.

The two world powers also continue to lock horns over a range of issues, including alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, protests in Hong Kong, China’s territorial claims on the Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and most of the South China Sea as well as the COVID-19 origin.

Beijing hoped for an improvement in relations under Biden's administration. But the new president has so far shown no sign of backing down on hardline policies toward Beijing.

Speaking at the annual Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a fairer world order in the face of the West’s unilateralism, warning hegemonic countries against “bossing others around.”

“One or a few countries shouldn’t impose their rules on others, and the world shouldn’t be led on by the unilateralism of a few countries,” Xi said.

Without singling out the US, the Chinese president warned against building barriers that are against market principles.

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