Nathan James
·
Follow
Geopolitical pundit and blogger.Mon
Given how the Chinese never had a vote in their government ruled by Chinese Communist Party, should media when reporting make the distinction between China and the regime ruling China, when referring to 'China' in their reports?
Your ‘given’ is false. The Chinese do have a vote in their government. There are free elections at the local level. Local officials then get to vote for officials at the next level of government above them and so on all the way to the top where the Politburo votes for the national leader.

This is similar to Western democracy. For example, in America you vote for local electors who then vote for the President. American citizens at the bottom do NOT directly vote for their President.

Similarly in Canada where I live. We vote for our Members of Parliament but we do NOT directly vote for the Prime Minister. The choice of national leader is determined behind closed doors by members of the party majority.

The ONLY difference between Chinese democracy and Western-style democracy is that Western democracy is based on competition between multiple parties. In China, there is only one ruling party, the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Competition between multiple parties is a fundamentally flawed concept. Elections become a popularity contest; it does not matter whether the candidate is intelligent nor competent nor experienced.

A multi-party system allows for compromised policy creation. And worries about winning the next election often hinder the execution of long-term policies. Such policies can even get overturned after the next election.

Historically, the Chinese people have always been led by a strong central government, whether it was an imperial dynasty or the CPC. Thus, there is no need to make a distinction between government and the people; they are two halves of the whole.