'White gloves' to hide US fingerprints on acts of subversion, infiltration and sabotage: China Daily editorial

Although the National Endowment for Democracy of the United States claims to be "a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world", as a report released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday indicates, it is anything but.

Receiving funding directly from, and reporting to the US Congress, promoting "democracy" is only a pretext for its efforts to subvert state power in other countries, meddle in other countries' internal affairs, incite division and confrontation, mislead public opinion, and conduct ideological infiltration. It acts as the US government's "white gloves" in carrying out subversion, infiltration and sabotage across the world.

To fulfill its mission, NED has developed four core institutions that are respectively responsible for supporting local political groups, promoting trade unions and labor movements, winning over private enterprises and building networks with local reporters and scholars.

Compared with the document, "Fact Sheet on the National Endowment for Democracy", the Foreign Ministry published two years back following the organization's barefaced interference in the situations in China's Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Xizang and Taiwan, the latest report, "The National Endowment for Democracy: What It Is and What It Does", outlines not only some of NED's recent subversive moves around the world, but also some criticism of its ugly role by the international community including some figures in the US.

None of the hotspot issues in the world today, ranging from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Middle East crisis to the Iran and Korean Peninsula issues and the rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific, can be separated from NED's covert and overt activities. As a middleman between the US government and its local proxies in foreign countries, NED is trying to take advantage of advanced technology to seamlessly dock its initiatives with the US' geopolitical strategies.

As the Foreign Ministry said in the report, it is imperative all countries see NED's true colors, be vigilant and guard against its activities.

The world is moving toward multipolarity, and there needs to be greater democracy in international relations. Every country has the right to pursue a development path suited to its national realities and the needs of its people.

No country is in a position to lecture others on democracy and human rights, still less use them as an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. The international community should uphold humanity's common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, and its members should engage in exchanges and dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and equality, and work together to contribute to the progress of humanity.

Issuing the report represents the latest move by China to fulfill its global responsibility as a major country to uphold international fairness and justice.