TOWARDS the end of March, the US hosted the second Democracy Summit. The stated objective was to put democracy and human rights at the heart of the Biden administration’s foreign policy. The first summit held in 2021 had focused on countering authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting human rights, while the 2023 summit has discussed how democracy could deliver economic growth, inclusivity and media freedom. This US-led event focused on promoting freedom in the digital era, and countering the misuse of technologies.
There was, however, an aspect that was notably not discussed but was certainly a part of the equation. Not inviting China, and inviting instead Taiwan, for instance, was a signal that the US-China competition has assumed a strong ideological dimension. The US regards the Chinese government as an authoritarian regime that has joined hands with another autocratic government — that of Vladimir Putin in Russia. The summit appears to be a lobbying effort for the liberal democracy model that the West espouses. China’s governance experience has shown an alternative effective route to development, and is getting traction amongst the developing world. At a time when the world is on the cusp of a new Cold War, the Democracy Summit process is seeking to consolidate the voice of countries practising liberal democracy.