Meet trying to divide world, observers say
Seoul-hosted ‘Summit for Democracy’ termed bid to go back to Cold War era
The “Summit for Democracy” is a meeting that divides the world along Western standards and is not conducive to global peace and unity, experts say.
The third edition of the gathering, first convened by US President Joe Biden in a virtual format in December 2021, opened on Monday in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea.
The summit was created by some countries that wish to go back to a Cold War-era mentality, said Woo Su-keun, president of the Seoul-based Korea-China Global Association.
“Just by looking at the name of summit, it is not in line with the era of globalization,” said Woo.
“It is an attempt to go back to the Cold War era in the 20th century when there was a bipolar rivalry between the Western-style liberal democracy and socialist communism.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul on Sunday to attend the three-day gathering.
Last March, the second summit was co-hosted by the United States with the governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the ROK, and Zambia.
Wang Junsheng, a research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, or CASS, noted that this is the first time the summit has been hosted by a country other than the US.
By hosting the summit, the ROK aims to play a role in democratic politics as a developed country and strengthen its alliance with the US, Wang said.
For the US, Wang said the real purpose of the summit is to divide the world by drawing lines between nations “based on so-called democratic values”.
“By consolidating the so-called alliance relationships, pressure is exerted on China, serving the US’ strategic competition with and suppression of China,” said Wang.
Wang noted that only about 30 countries attended the ministerial meeting on Monday, indicating the summit is declining in all aspects, including its representativeness.
In his opening remarks at the summit, Blinken said the ROK is a “champion of democracy” for the world. However, Wang said the ROK’s level of democracy has declined, as indicated by a relevant research report, since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration took office.
“It is regrettable to see that the third ‘Summit for Democracy’ is held in the ROK,” said Lee Changho, chairman of the Korea-China Exchange Promotion Committee in the ROK.
Noting that the Yoon administration has been under criticism for its foreign policy toward the US and Japan, Lee said hosting the summit was not in the national interest of the ROK and will further hurt the ROK’s relations with China.
Result of unilateralism
Seeing the summit as a result of unilateralism, Lee said it is important to promote a diplomatic strategy that emphasizes multilateralism because a dichotomy does not serve the peaceful development and coexistence of humanity.
“Which country has not been pursuing democracy?” said Woo, from the Korea-China Global Association, noting that each country has its own way of implementing democracy based on its unique situation.
For example, when compared to the US’ focus on individual freedom, China’s democracy puts more focus on collective stability and the interest of all parties, which suits the country’s situation well, said Woo.
Dividing the world by the US standard of democracy is of little help to global peace and unity, said Woo.
Wang, from the CASS, said the ROK is intensifying competition among major powers by hosting the summit and its actions will exacerbate regional division.
“The ROK’s action will also surely provoke the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, leading to heightened tensions on the peninsula,” said Wang.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea fired multiple shortrange ballistic missiles off the east coast on Monday, the ROK’s Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the ROK’s military.