China rebukes US for cobbling together cliques by drawing ideological line

BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said that the United States forces other countries to accept its democratic standards and cobbles together cliques by drawing the ideological line, which is sheer betrayal to democracy.

According to reports, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to attend the fourth ministerial-level meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) foreign ministers in Australia. At a press briefing via teleconference, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said that part of that discussion will relate to the challenges that China poses to democratic values and the international order.

"Democracy is a common value of the mankind, not a monopoly of a few countries. It's up to the people of a country to decide whether this country is democratic or not," spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing.

Zhao pointed out that despite its ruined democratic brand, the United States still forces other countries to accept its democratic standards and cobbles together cliques by drawing the ideological line, which is sheer betrayal to democracy.

Noting that China presents a boon for the regional order, Zhao said that China pursues peace, development and cooperation. China promotes the building of an equitable, open and inclusive security system in the Asia-Pacific region that is not directed against any third country, and rejects creating exclusive cliques and inciting bloc confrontation.

Like most countries, China recognizes and supports the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law, rather than the so-called "order" unilaterally defined by a single or a handful of countries, the spokesperson added.

Zhao said that any multilateral mechanism should conform to the overriding trend of peace and development and be conducive to enhancing mutual trust and cooperation between countries.

It's hoped that the United States and other countries concerned will grasp the trend of the times, adopt a proper mindset and discard the Cold War mentality, Zhao said, urging those countries to contribute more to regional peace, stability and prosperity instead of putting a strain on the relations between regional countries.