Photo: Guancha.cn

China's democracy is not of the few but of the majority, not in mere form but in essence, and not the kind that only awakens during elections but throughout the process, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng remarked on Thursday when giving his definition of democracy at an event held in Beijing. He slammed the US' "democracy summit" as an anti-democratic act in the name of democracy, which only serves to suppress others that stand against it.

Regarding the question on whether China is a democratic country, Le said that in some Western narratives, the answer always seems to be negative, "even when you have conquered a series of miracles in maintaining long-term stability and eradicated poverty, and you have won the support of the majority of Chinese people."

Le noted that such twisted narratives have exposed the ulterior motive of some people, which is to use democracy as a tool to suppress others who are not of their kind. 

"From China's experience, we can see that democracy is not something that comes from the outside and is not for others to teach. In other words, democracy must be deeply rooted from its own country's soils and make its own people happy and satisfied," Le said.

He stressed that both history and reality have fully proved that China's model of democracy fits well with its national conditions and China is a well-deserved democratic country. 

Looking back at China's exploration of democracy since modern times, it has paid a painful price for simply copying foreign models, Le said, adding that by looking at Afghanistan, Libya, or Iraq, a democracy forcibly transplanted has turned out to be disastrous and it was the innocent people who suffered at the end. 

As the world is going through profound changes coupled with the pandemic, the "democracy summit" convened by certain country who claims to be the "leader of democracy" has divided the world into different classes, which is in essence an anti-democratic act in the name of democracy, the senior diplomat said. 

In today's uncertain world fighting COVID-19 remains a top priority. Le said that amid the unprecedented challenges and risks, democracy needs to be about keeping in touch with the people and improving the lives of the people, not grandstanding.

According to the World Health Organization, there are still more than 80 countries in the world, many of them in Africa, which will not be able to meet the 40 percent adult vaccination target by the end of the year and the raging Omicron variant is posing even a greater threat to African lives. 

China has always reached out to Africa. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Monday at the opening of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) via video link that China will provide Africa with another 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine.