China has lashed out at Germany after its foreign minister called Xi Jinping a “dictator” and summoned Berlin’s ambassador for a dressing down, in the latest flaring of tensions with a western democratic power over how the Chinese leader is described overseas.
In China, the people directly elect local council (e.g. village or town level) representatives. Those local council members than select who among themselves to send to represent them at the next level above. This continues all the way the National People’s Congress and the Standing Committee.
This sort of organizational structure is more-or-less how political parties in Germany also work; so by that logic the Green party itself would presumably be an undemocratic institution.
OK, but the CPC can control who is allowed to run in elections, right? Well, Germany banned its communist party: In Germany, any organization (and their members) that wants to abolish the liberal order, capitalism, private property and so on is subject to repression, surveillance and outright bans, and this is enshrined in the constitution. So no fundamental difference there either: In Germany the liberal institutions decide who can and cannot run, and they have decided the commies are out.
Empirically, the Chinese government enjoys way better approval rating than any Western government, Chinese people believe themselves to be living in a democracy, and the Chinese administration seems way more responsive to the actual needs of the people, what with the poverty reduction and all. How is this possible if they’re so much more undemocratic than Western liberal democracies?
Back in 1946, it was decided that antidemocratic parties shouldn’t be part of a democracy. Hence antidemocratic parties are illegal.
That’s it. You are very much allowed to abolish private property if you wish to do so. You’ll just have to do it in a democratic manner.
And it just so happens that abolishing private property is very much not a popular idea.
(No, the current German government can not decide who can run in elections.)
He’s still an authoritarian cunt.
Well I think the issue is the people in China haven’t experienced the democracy in US so the comparison would be hard to measure. As funny as it gets the people in the US can laugh at Joe Biden but not those in China that could laugh at president Xi.
A note accompanying the poll results offers a disclaimer, stating that “in authoritarian countries, positive perceptions might result from different conceptions of democracy, high levels of government satisfaction, or fear of speaking out against the government.”
This is kind of my point. Western liberals claim their representative type of democracy is the only correct way to have democracy. But in their version of democracy, economic power allows oligarchs and corporations to own and control the media, there are countless legal (and illegal) ways to influence policy and bribe politicians, and the police and courts routinely suppress anti-capitalist and other emancipatory movements, organizations and individuals.
Giving lectures about democracy when you’re at the helm of a country that is actually ruled by the capitalist class is hypocritical.
Well at least you can criticise about it unlike some countries. You can choose who to believe, this degree of freedom is not there.
Don’t worry, the Americans haven’t either.
Well you have to understand the centralisation is pulling the legs of the economy in China rn