Blinken comment on India, U.S. ‘shared values’ riles China

American Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasising the “shared values” of India and the United States as two democracies, during his visit to India on Wednesday, brought a sharp response from Beijing. A question from an American media outlet during a daily press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, about Mr. Blinken speaking of two of the world’s democracies standing in support of shared ideals at a time of a rising global threat to democracy even if he did not directly name China, brought a long and sharp response from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian. “Some self-proclaimed democracies are deeply troubled at home by wealth disparity, social division, racial divide and political polarisation,” he said, referring to themes often mentioned in the Chinese official media’s critical coverage of the U.S. “Is that how their so-called democracy looks like?” he continued. Is this democracy or actually hegemony?” The spokesperson said in China’s view “the key yardstick to measure a political system lies in whether it suits the national conditions of a country, whether it brings about political stability, social progress and betterment of people’s livelihood, whether it is supported by its own people, and whether it makes contribution to the cause of human progress.”