Chinese Ambassador Accuses the US of Being a Failing Democracy

The Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, penned a letter to New Zealand MPs wherein he criticized the U.S.-led democratic world while promoting China’s different system of democracy.

Wang stated that the United States had a sense of superiority and that its narratives of democracy versus authoritarianism were “false.” Furthermore, he claimed that countries with flaws had “little credibility” to lecture others and argued that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pursued values of freedom, democracy, and human rights. Wang said that the CCP would be willing to share its values and perspectives but refuted being preached to by “others,” primarily referring to the United States; instead, he accused the U.S. of imposing its values on the CCP.

In addition to his three-page letter, Wang attached two reports by the Chinese Foreign Ministry titled “The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022” and “U.S. Hegemony and Its Perils.” Both reports accused American democracy of being a failed system and dividing the world.

The first report, published on March 20, made several accusations against the United States, including its splitting the world into two camps, democracies and non-democracies, and supplying arms to Ukraine for profit. The report also claimed that American democracy was declining, saying that it is no longer the “gold standard.” Belarus and Singapore are two countries closely linked to the Russian and Chinese regimes—both referenced in the report. The CCP considered former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan a significant political provocation, according to the report.

The AUKUS pact was dubbed a “racist clique” by the second report, published on Feb. 20, in which the United States had “ganged up” with Australia and the United Kingdom. The Quad and Five Eyes were examples of other “value-based alliances” that had been “cobbled together” by the U.S., as per the report.

Luke De Pulford, the spokesperson for the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, criticized the letter, saying that it was counterproductive. “Between the vitriol of the wolf warriors and the unhinged propagandizing of these letters, Beijing is giving us a masterclass in bad diplomacy,” he said.

CCP’s Global Aggression

Wang’s letter precedes New Zealand’s general election, which will take place on Oct. 14. According to reports by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the CCP conducted a campaign to disrupt Canada’s 2021 national election and have politicians critical of Beijing defeated.

During the 2022 Australian federal election, an internal review by the Liberal Party found that its opponents had pushed the perception that the party’s strong criticism of the CCP extended to the general Chinese community. This led to significant swings against the Liberals in communities with a high Chinese population.