People continuing to believe China doesn’t hold popular elections is one of the most fundamental myths that I really hope we can break through. Not only do they hold elections, but the people elected to the legislative body are exemplars in service to their local community.
They have included farmers, Meituan delivery drivers, schoolteachers (including Zhang Guimei, who founded a free girls’ high school in a very poor, rural mountainous region), as well as top scientists, researchers, doctors, and economists. These are the people who converge in
Beijing every 5 years to vote & lend their experience & expertise to the legislative process. It is a constantly evolving process, incl. experiments w/ quotas to bring in more underrepresented demographics or reserved seats for certain groups, incl. members from all 55 minorities
Just because a single party runs the government does not mean there is a lack of diversity in thought, experience, or anything else. The delegates also don’t get paid, and return to their lives after each congress session is over. That means they continue to serve their community
as before, rather than focusing on things like election cycles, campaigning, or politicking.
Ofc it’s not perfect or invulnerable from corruption or bad faith actors. It is a messy, human process and the people of China are continually experimenting in it.
Ofc it’s not perfect or invulnerable from corruption or bad faith actors. It is a messy, human process and the people of China are continually experimenting in it.
So when someone dismissively calls China an authoritarian state with no vote, they are dismissing an incredibly large, complex, and rich elections process that the many millions of Chinese in China participate in.
And it’s chauvinistic as fuck.
And it’s chauvinistic as fuck.
Anyway if you wanna see some deep cut burns from the Chinese state on the US’s continual snide comments on Chinese governance, here is a great MFA white paper. Including this gem:
“The US is not a straight A student when it comes to democracy.”
🤣🤣🤣🤣
mfa.gov.cn
“The US is not a straight A student when it comes to democracy.”
🤣🤣🤣🤣
mfa.gov.cn
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