China branded US democracy a “weapon of mass destruction” on Saturday, following the Summit for Democracy organised by the US, which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes.
The two-day virtual summit attended by over 100 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concluded on Friday with a call to evaluate progress in safeguarding fair elections, protecting human rights and fighting corruption.
While the US omitted China and Russia from the list of invitees, Beijing was furious over the invitation to the self-governing island Taiwan, which China said is a blatant violation of the ‘One China’ policy that considers Taipei as the integral part of the Chinese mainland.
China has also accused accusing US President Joe Biden of stoking Cold War-era ideological divides, while the US has repeatedly denied the charge. “Democracy’ has long become a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ used by the US to interfere in other countries,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in an online statement, which also accused the US of having “instigated ‘colour revolutions’” overseas.