A rare joint opinion article by the ambassadors of China and Russia has sharply assailed President Joe Biden's plans for a virtual summit of democratic countries -- from which they were pointedly excluded. The summit is meant to fulfill a campaign pledge by Biden to advance the cause of global democracy at a time when autocratic governments have been on the rise. But when the State Department on Tuesday published a list of about 110 invited countries -- without including Russia or China -- their reaction was furious. "It has been proved that the whole-process democracy works in China, and works very well." Among countries invited to the virtual summit are some where democracy appears fragile, has suffered setbacks, or where autocratic trends have emerged.

Source: Libya Today November 27, 2021 21:40 UTC