US uses democracy to serve own interests, CPPCC says

Democracy is not the privilege of certain countries, and the United States is using democracy to serve its own interests, Guo Weimin, spokesman for the country's top political advisory body, said on Thursday.

Guo made the remarks while commenting on some claims that China and the US are competing for the power of discourse on democracy, as China had issued a white paper on democracy in December days before the US held the Summit for Democracy.

The fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held a news conference on Thursday, one day ahead of the opening of its annual session.

Guo said at the news conference that at a time when the US was beset with contradictions at home and its own democracy was being criticized, the so-called democracy summit was nothing more than an effort to suppress others, divide the world and maintain its hegemony.

Guo cited a recent public opinion survey conducted by an international firm, which showed that among 28 countries surveyed, Chinese people have the highest level of trust in their government, more than 90 percent. This is a sharp contrast to the US, where the public's trust in their government is less than 40 percent, results showed.

Guo said some Western countries, with their own people increasingly dissatisfied with their chaotic social governance, tried to impose their so-called democratic model on other countries through "color revolutions", causing serious disasters.

"Democracy has diverse forms and is not exclusive to a few countries. The democratic system of each country should be chosen by the people of the country according to their own national conditions. What's suitable is the best," he said.

"The US usurps the banner of democracy to serve its own interests, which the people of the world have seen clearly," he said.

Guo said China has formed a democratic political system with Chinese characteristics during its long-term development and construction.

"We have carried out democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management and supervision in accordance with the law, blazing a path of developing whole-process people's democracy throughout the process," he said.

"It has vigorously promoted long-term socioeconomic development, improving people's living standards and bringing continuous social and cultural progress," he added.