Chinese State Media: World Rejects ‘American Values’ Like Freedom and Democracy

China’s state-run Global Times cited a few polls and Western op-ed pieces on Sunday to argue the world has rejected “American values” like freedom and democracy.

In the Chinese Communist paper’s view, the U.S. response to China’s coronavirus pandemic, unrest in the streets, and “division and confrontation between political parties” prove the U.S. system does not work and America’s “global leadership is declining.” 

The Global Times continued China’s ugly effort to profit politically from the pandemic it unleashed by claiming the U.S. and its allies – including Canada, Japan, and Australia – are no longer respected because they “handled the epidemic badly.”

The editorial argued that democratic values such as transparency, accountability, individual liberty, and free elections have been exposed as worthless because authoritarian China supposedly did so much better at handling the coronavirus:

Some American people have been proud to promote the American values of democracy and freedom to the world. But now, they find this does not work anymore because the world has changed. The so-called American values have deceived American people as well as the world. Now, the US’ values are much too vulnerable, and the country’s global leadership is declining.

At present, the US is unable to resolve its domestic problems including the raging epidemic, racial discrimination, social division and confrontation between political parties. Washington is trying to divert domestic resentment to the outside. This is a sign of the US’ stagnation and its further decline.

The US used to be a model for many countries to follow. It was also a country that many students worldwide yearned for. But now, the most powerful country is fragile and chaotic, constantly disrupting social order. The Trump administration seems to be the biggest factor behind such changes.

The Global Times blamed much of America’s supposed decline on President Donald Trump but then argued that if he had not been elected in 2016, “another similar politician would assume high office sooner or later” because America’s selfish, chaotic, stubbornly individualistic society simply cannot handle the challenges of globalization.

“With globalization worsening various woes in American society, the U.S. will eventually take off its hypocritical moral mask and reveal its true nature. The U.S. does not want to spend a relatively long time to adapt to globalization. It hopes to adopt direct and rampant measures to prevent other countries from making progress and taking the lead,” the Global Times concluded, seemingly predicting the United States will abandon its “hypocritical” concerns about human rights and become more like China.