US 'Summit for Democracy' triggers division, confrontation: spokesperson

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The so-called second "Summit for Democracy" hosted by the U.S. side is about realizing its selfish purposes, expanding the coverage of the rules set by the U.S., and stoking division and confrontation in the world, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Mao Ning said that the U.S. is hosting the summit basically to draw lines between countries in the world according to U.S. criteria and interfere in their affairs based on U.S. interests.

"The summit is designed to patch up small groupings in the name of democracy, tout the false narrative of 'democracy versus autocracy,' impose hierarchy on the international community and create division in the world," Mao said, adding that it is done at the service of group politics and the U.S. strategy of maintaining its primacy.

"The summit reflects how arrogant, intolerant, selfish and domineering the U.S. has always been, and how it contravenes and tramples on democracy as part of the common values of humanity," she added.

Noting the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal proposed by the U.S. is not so much about the renewal for world democracies, but the renewal of U.S. hegemony, Mao said the declaration of the summit, which was pushed by the U.S. to get some countries on board with certain "code of conduct" and "principles," is about realizing selfish purposes, expanding the coverage of the rules set by the U.S. and a few others, and stoke division and confrontation in the world.

"This is extremely harmful and dangerous," Mao said.

She pointed out that as global issues and challenges keep emerging, what the world needs today is not to stoke division in the name of democracy and pursue supremacy-oriented unilateralism, but to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and uphold true multilateralism on the basis of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

She said what the world needs today is not to interfere in other countries' internal affairs under the guise of democracy, but to advocate genuine democracy, reject pseudo-democracy and promote greater democracy in international relations.

What the world needs today is not a "Summit for Democracy" that hypes up confrontation, but solidarity and cooperation that focuses on taking real actions to solve global challenges, Mao added.