Commentary
BEIJING – Democracy as a common value has been manipulated.
The United States has been using it to deceive the world and cover up its nature as a fake democracy but real hegemon.
To contain rivals and reap benefits, Washington has, in recent years, assembled a so-called “value alliance,” strengthened its military alliances and provoked bloc confrontation, seriously jeopardizing world order, global peace and security.
When America talks of democracy, it actually means an American style democracy, or Ameri-cracy, built upon hegemony, bullying and domineering.
First, US-style democracy is not about equality but hegemony. From economic embargoes to military interventions and regime subversion, Washington willfully punishes any disobedient country.
In his book America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy, US author William Blum wrote that since the end of World War II, the United States has endeavored to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, most of which were democratically elected, grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries, and attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.
For years, the United States has created political unrest in Latin America, played a part in the so-called “Arab Spring,” and instigated color revolutions in Eurasia. Its troublemaking has brought about enormous humanitarian disasters, and even bred terrorism and extremism. Now, it continues to reap benefits by coercing its allies to fan the flame of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Second, US-style democracy is not about fairness but bullying. US politicians follow the selfish doctrines of “America first” and “winner-takes-all.”
Putting its own interests above all others, the United States arbitrarily wields the baton of sanction on those who disobey. A unilateralist America ignores international rules and without hesitation, abandons what it preaches – the principles of market economy and free trade.
It has imposed systematic sanctions on Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela and collaterally targeted the third parties, which have not only jeopardized the economy and livelihoods of those nations, but also severely disrupted the global economic order.
In pursuit of self-interests, Uncle Sam has not even been soft on its allies. With the EU beset with an energy crisis amid the Ukraine crisis, the United States has made a fortune by exporting expensive American liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.
In a bid to protect and even promote its manufacturing industry, Washington passed a landmark US$430-billion climate, tax and healthcare bill named Inflation Reduction Act, which threatens Europe with deindustrialization.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the US act as “not in line with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and not in line with friendship.”
Moreover, the United States has generalized the concept of “national security” and arbitrarily placed other countries’ companies in the so-called “entity list” to impose trade embargoes and long-arm jurisdiction.
No matter the CHIPS and Science Act or the so-called “friend-shoring,” they all violated the WTO rules and seriously undermined the stability of the global industrial supply chains, which have drawn condemnation and even boycott.
In a recent article, The Economist said that the United States has “moved from a ‘run faster’ to a ‘run faster and trip the other guy’ policy.”
Third, US-style democracy is not about rules but about domineering, or American exceptionalism. An egoistic United States applies the rules when it suits them and abandons when it doesn’t, having willfully withdrawn from multilateral agreements and international organizations.
The so-called “rules-based international order” which it has been stressing and urging others to maintain, is nothing more than an international order based on Washington-established rules.
The United States has long ignored the basic principles of international law prohibiting the threat of force and unlawful use of force, and has blatantly launched wars against sovereign states on many occasions.
It has been standing singly in the way of negotiations for a Biological Weapons Convention protocol that includes a verification regime. It has built the US Space Force and Space Command, accelerated weapons tests and military exercises in outer space, which seriously goes against the concept of peaceful uses of outer space.
The prisoner abuse scandal of the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp tramples upon the Convention against Torture; unilateral sanctions against countries including Iran and Syria violate the provisions of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Meanwhile, this global human rights “referee” habitually turns a blind eye to its own human rights violations at home. From inciting racial discrimination and hatred to forcibly repatriating undocumented immigrants despite the pandemic, Washington has seriously violated a series of international conventions and regulations, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the American Convention on Human Rights.
A WTO report shows that the United States is by far the biggest “non-compliant” nation of WTO ruling, causing two-thirds of the organization’s violations.
“In the early 21st century, if any power sought world domination, coercing others and flouting rules, it was the United States,” a New York Times opinion piece commented.
But lies cannot bear scrutiny. Chanting the so-called “democracy, human rights and freedom,” the United States has in fact clung to hegemony, bullying and domineering. Such a country is in no position to talk about democracy and has no international credibility at all.
“From the COVID-19 pandemic to global trade rules, from climate change to economic development, the United States is actively frustrating the priorities of most of the world’s democracies. In the process, US foreign policy is – in the name of democracy – compounding the global crisis of democracy and delegitimizing US power,” US magazine Foreign Affairs commented.
Abuse of force, violation of human rights, long-arm jurisdiction, foreign despotism, self-conceit, diplomatic bullying ... the United States has increasingly exposed itself as a fake democracy but real hegemon before overwhelming facts. – Xinhua
