Image source,Getty Images
US President Biden (Joe Biden) announced on Wednesday (November 24) that the first online edition will be held on December 9th and 10th.Democracy Summit“(Summit of Democracy), the concern from all walks of life is that the U.S. invited Taiwan, while China and Russia were not invited, which triggered strong criticism from Beijing, saying that democracy is only a tool used by the U.S. to suppress other countries.
In fact, not long after the meeting has ended, many commentators believe that the “tensed” relationship between the United States and China seems to be easing. However, Biden immediately announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics. On November 23, the US Burke-class destroyer crossed the Taiwan Strait again. Related incidents have caused discussions on whether the tension between the United States and China has risen instead of falling.
Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the “German Marshall Foundation”, a Washington think tank, analyzed the BBC’s Chinese language and said that this online leaders summit is not designed to solve all problems between the United States and China: “I think China also expects the United States to continue. Do things they don’t like, including inviting Taiwan to participate in this democracy summit.”
Ge Laiyi previously commented that the key has always been not whether Taiwan will participate in the meeting, but what role it will participate in. Ge Laiyi told the BBC: “However, the President of Taiwan has not been invited, so I don’t think China’s response will be too drastic.”
Beijing protest
In fact, as early as this year, when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended the hearing of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, he stated that he would invite Taiwan to participate in the Democracy Summit at the end of the year. At that time, Beijing immediately expressed protest.
After Taiwan confirmed its invitation to participate in the Democracy Summit on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian immediately reiterated its opposition at a regular press conference on the same day. He said that US democracy is just a tool to suppress other countries: “We have stated our position many times. Democracy is the common value of all mankind and is not the patent of a few countries. What the US has done just proves that the so-called democracy is just a guise, and it was brought by the US. A tool to advance its geostrategic goals, suppress other countries, divide the world, serve oneself, and seek personal gain.”
Chinese state media said that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng mentioned this summit before. He criticized the United States‘ democratic record as “not glorious.” People still remember the riots on Capitol Hill at the beginning of the year. He ridiculed the United States for its “color revolution” and left many “mess”.
Singapore’s “Lianhe Zaobao” news network Wang Weiwen commented on Wednesday, “The good and bad news has been mixed between China and the United States in the past week after Xi’s visit, but Taiwan is clearly a card that the United States is unwilling to slow down… and China The value dispute between the United States and the United States amplifies the shortcomings of each other’s centralized and non-centralized systems, and it is more to fight for the right to control the global voice and occupy the moral high ground.”
Image source,EPA
Taiwan’s representative office in Lithuania was officially established in Vilnius, the capital of the country, on November 18.Both parties will attend the summit
What is the Democracy Summit?
The first online leader democracy summit, scheduled to be held from December 9th to 10th, invited about 110 national and regional leaders, civil society organizations, and philanthropy to discuss the challenges faced by democracy.
The summit focused on three themes, including “fighting against authority”, “fighting corruption” and “promoting respect for human rights.”
When analyzing the political implications of the Democracy Summit, Song Wendi, a lecturer at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University (ANU), told the BBC that the main function of the summit is not to establish a geopolitical alliance. “On the contrary, the purpose of the summit is to provide for those like-minded international members. An opportunity to weave a safety net to enhance the resilience and resilience of a free international order.”
Summit invitees come from all over the world: Asia, including Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India, the Philippines, and Pakistan are all invited, but China, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar are not on the list; Europe includes EU member states Major countries have been invited, such as Lithuania, which has made rapid progress in diplomatic relations with Taiwan recently.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Tang Feng, several political members of the Executive Yuan, and Xiao Meiqin, Taiwan’s representative to the United States, will attend the meeting.
Image source,Bih-khim Hsiao Twitter
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Taiwan’s representative to the United States, Xiao Meiqin, and others attended the meeting.
An unnamed spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told Taiwan’s Central News Agency that the two people attended the meeting to demonstrate Taiwan’s “world-class expertise” on issues such as transparent governance, human rights, and countering disinformation, and it is also in line with the U.S. “One China Policy”. . He said that Taiwan is at the forefront of the world in developing prevention of false information and foreign interference, using emerging technologies to make government governance more transparent and more responsive to popular sentiments, and promoting and protecting the human rights of LGBTQI+ ethnic groups (sexual minorities).
Shen Xuhui, an international relations scholar and associate professor of the Institute of Political Science and Research at Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, said that the list of participants at the summit includes civil society organizations and private institutions. The issue is to redefine what is meant by a “unit actor”, which may be more epoch-making in international relations itself than a democratic summit.”
However, there are also many critics criticizing the strategic significance of this invited list for being full of contradictions. For example, Vietnam and Singapore, which have good strategic partnerships with the United States, were not invited.
Song Wendi told the BBC that the main task of this summit is to formulate common standards and agendas, hoping to re-incorporate government governance capabilities and common democratic values on the agendas of international organizations: “Especially in the United States’ long absence in the past few years, and China’s participation in the United Nations. After the increasing influence in the system institutions”.