Mearsheimer: 'Democracy' is the velvet glove over the iron fist

The US often frames China-US competition as "authoritarianism" versus "democracy".

This kind of narrative is designed to portray the Chinese as the "bad guys" and the Americans as the "good guys" for the purpose of public relations rather than ideology.

"This is the velvet glove over the iron fist in the American case," John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said.