China is really upping the ante on the US. They held this event the week before the US's Summit for Democracy, with almost the same size of world representation (the US also has invited ~100 countries). But where the US demands state leaders come in supplication, China's event is more like a friendly academic conference or workshop for constructive discussion.China also hosted its very own last week, with 300 politicians, scholars, and experts in various fields from over 100 countries and regions attended the gathering. They discussed “diverse forms of democracy, slamming monistic and hegemonic narratives on the subject."
It centred around five main themes focusing on democracy and sustainable development, innovation, global governance, diversity, and modernisation.
The past few weeks China has been on the rhetorical offensive: first "US Hegemony and its Perils", then "The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022".
The US has tainted the term "democracy" with its warmongering and hypocrisy for far too long, it's really time to take the word back and restore its true meaning. . By exposing the US narratives repeatedly and saying the things the whole world wants to but don't have the guts to, China is prying away what's left of their moral high ground and exceptionalism. They've learned a lot about how to counter-propaganda in a really short time.