Democracy is a right of all people, not patent of any country, says senior Chinese diplomat

Democracy is the right of people of all countries, and it has never been the patent of any country, senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi has said.

In an interview with Xinhua on Monday following his official visits to the Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone, Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said that Democracy has evolved and continues to evolve towards perfection in many countries around the world, adding that no democracy is ultimately unchanged.

True democracy means that people are the masters of the country, he said, adding that there are various ways to realize democracy, and it is by no means only through the model of Western democracy.

The only criterion for evaluating a country's democracy is by degree of people's happiness and satisfaction, Yang said.

Democracy is the right of people of all countries, and it has never been the patent of any country. There are certain country that disrespects international democratic consultation, and designates who is a "democratic country" and who is qualified to attend the so-called "Summit for Democracy" based on its own standard, he said.

In fact, doing undemocratic things under the guise of democracy is a betrayal of the democratic spirit. This will only incite ideological contradictions and bloc confrontation in the world, which runs counter to the world trend of peace, development, and cooperation, and will certainly arouse doubts and dissatisfaction of the international community, he added.

Democracy should be rooted in the realities of a country's ideological, cultural, social and economic development, and should not be imposed from the outside, let alone become an instrument of hegemony, he said.

A vast number of developing countries have long recognized the harm of imposing American-style "democracy," and their call for mutual respect and equal treatment is getting louder, and their determination to safeguard sovereignty, oppose external interference and firmly hold their destiny in their own hands is firmer, Yang said.

China is willing to work with Africa and the world to further promote the democratization of international relations and make new contributions to the cause of world peace, development, and the progress of human civilization, Yang said.