'Summit' by Washington blatant ploy, official says

The "democracy summit" in the United States is a blatant ploy to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, Liu Guangyuan, the Foreign Ministry's commissioner in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said on Thursday.

He said those who bad-mouthed the democratic systems of China and the Hong Kong SAR at the "summit" will be condemned to "everlasting infamy" as it has been proved that these democratic systems are effective and pragmatic.

Liu made the remarks during a seminar in Hong Kong on the essence of democracy. The US is hosting the "Summit for Democracy" on Thursday and Friday.

Hong Kong fugitive Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who has fled to the United Kingdom and been there for over a year on suspicion of breaching the National Security Law, has been invited to deliver a speech at the "summit". The speech is expected to contain potentially defamatory comments about the HKSAR and China's central government.

Days before the seminar, the central government released a white paper elaborating on the characteristics of the Chinese democratic system and democracy in the US. The report expressed hopes the US recognizes deficiencies in its system in order to improve its democracy.

Liu said US democracy is fraught with money politics, political polarization and other deep-seated problems. These have had disastrous consequences, such as the Capitol riots in January and the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet, the US still spares no effort to impose its flawed system on other jurisdictions, by implementing so-called "democratic transformation" and plotting "color revolutions".

It's ridiculous for a troublemaker that creates instability and conflicts to hold a "democracy summit" to solve global problems, Liu said. He added that the "summit" is essentially a deception that aims to confuse right and wrong and coerce other countries to follow the US' flawed democracy model.

By comparison, China's democratic system, which prioritizes people's interests throughout the decision-making process, has created economic miracles and contributed to the world's peace and prosperity.

He expressed hope that people can see through external forces' malicious intentions to smear Chinese democracy and firmly oppose any interference in the democratic development of Hong Kong and the rest of China.

Chen Dong, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, told the seminar the nation's Constitution has provided fundamental safeguards and broad development room for Hong Kong's democracy.

Hong Kong is proceeding on the right course of democracy, and the system will be further improved with the legislative election this month, he said.

Chen said he believes the new term of the Legislative Council will promote a more qualified and substantive democracy, foster legislative and executive relations that will better meet the requirements of the Basic Law, and better serve public interests.

Under the new landscape, Hong Kong people will properly exercise their right to improve the city's democracy and the "one country, two systems" policy will be steadily and successfully implemented, he said.

Hong Kong economist Lawrence Lau Juen-yee said at the seminar that a good criteria to measure the success of democracy is national satisfaction.

He cited a report released by Harvard University in July 2020, which said over 93 percent of Chinese people are satisfied with the Chinese government, adding that only 37 percent of Americans are satisfied with their government.

Sociologist Lau Siu-kai questioned whether US democracy was a good model, noting that political instability and threats caused by the system have a far more profound influence than the boosting of social development.

Due to the growing crises in US society, US people's confidence in their system is at an all-time low, Lau said.