China on Ukraine Letter Fiasco: ‘There Is No Such Thing as Democracy’ for Democrats

The Chinese government propaganda newspaper Global Times condemned the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and Democrats in general, on Wednesday after the CPC published and rapidly revoked a letter urging diplomacy in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Global Times, which regularly condemned American free political society as “chaotic” compared to the “harmony” of totalitarian communism, claimed that “political correctness” in America had censored any voices suggesting that the Ukrainian government should consider diplomatic talks with Russia and potentially conceding some of its territory. China is a close ally of Russia’s but enjoys lucrative investments in Ukraine, which has resulted in a neutral stance that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has acknowledged has resulted in tensions between the two countries.

The CPC published a letter on Monday signed by 30 members of Congress urging leftist President Joe Biden to consider requesting Ukraine to consider negotiations as he continues to fund Ukraine’s fighters to the tune of billions of taxpayers’ dollars. The letter lasted one day before being revoked.

“For the US, it is politically correct to support Ukraine and sanction Russia. There is no room for compromise,” the Global Times declared. “Since the Ukraine crisis, the US has kept instigating other countries to strengthen sanctions on Russia and expand military assistance to Ukraine, which shows the US has no will to play a constructive role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”

“As a result, voices that called for a proactive diplomatic push were quashed right away. Obviously, within the Democratic Party or the US, there is no such thing as ‘democracy’ — they all speak in one voice,” it concluded.

Typically, the Global Times endorses governments “speak[ing] in one voice,” such as its effusive coverage of the Communist Party Congress this past week. It nonetheless condemned perceived uniformity among the Democrats on Wednesday.

The Chinese government newspaper continued to argue that the progressives were initially correct in urging diplomacy so that Biden can direct more attention to the issue of soaring inflation in the United States.

“It is a thorny domestic issue Biden needs to tackle urgently,” the newspaper said of inflation, “over which his Republican rivals attacked him harshly. Therefore, easing the situation in Ukraine via diplomacy instead of cruel military means to avoid US resources from being further consumed fits the interests of the Democratic Party and the US.”

The letter in question requested that Biden consider a way to “pair the military and economic support the United States has provided to Ukraine with a proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire.”

“Tt is imperative to avoid direct military conflict with Russia, which would lead to “World War III, something we must strive to prevent,” the letter continued. “The risk of nuclear weapons being used has been estimated to be higher now than at any time since the height of the Cold War.”

It emphasized, however, that “it is not America’s place to pressure Ukraine’s government regarding sovereign decisions.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who chairs the CPC, issued a statement withdrawing the letter on Tuesday, blaming her “staff” for releasing it “without vetting.” Jayapal claimed that one reason she withdrew the letter was that House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had recently stated that, should Republicans take back the House of Representatives after November’s midterm elections, Ukraine would no longer receive a “blank check” from the American taxpayer.

“The proximity of these statements created the unfortunate appearance that Democrats,” Jayapal said, “who have strongly and unanimously supported and voted for every package of military, strategic, and economic assistance to the Ukrainian people, are somehow aligned with Republicans who seek to pull the plug on American support for President Zelensky and the Ukrainian forces.”

The letter withdrawal elicited anonymous grumbles that the CPC was conducting an “amateur hour” operation undermining the American left. One unnamed Congressional staffer described the situation as “just a disaster” on Tuesday.

Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, colonizing its Crimean peninsula, and engaged in several rounds of negotiations with Russia. The last round — bringing together Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Putin, and the leaders of France and Germany as chaperones — resulted in no meaningful agreements or changes to the status quo.

“It was very little,” a dejected Zelensky lamented at the time.

The invasion of Crimea escalated into a full-scale war to overthrow Zelensky in February. In September, the Ukrainian president told the United Nations that his government was no longer interested in talks with Russia at all.

“We held 88 rounds of talks in various formats to prevent this war, just from the beginning of my presidency until February 24 this year,” he recalled, suggesting only “punishment” of Russia will end the war.

Zelensky has been zealous in urging the world, and especially America and Europe, to offer funding and weapons to continue fighting the much larger Russian army. This week, Ukrainian officials requested Europe contribute 2 billion euros (about $2,000,180,000) a month to fighting Russia.

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