Two new articles promoting the idea that the Chinese system represents an alternative form of democracy from that promoted by Western countries have appeared in the South African and Nigerian press this week. While they were apparently written by African journalists, they follow Chinese state talking points and vocabulary quite closely.
Both use the recent occasion of China’s Two Sessions meetings as an occasion to praise the Chinese system and also promote the idea that “democracy” is not uniquely a Western political construct.
- SOUTH AFRICA: Dividends of Chinese Democracy Could Be Lessons for Africa, by Wesley Seale (IOL)
- NIGERIA: A Peep into China’s Consultative Democracy, by Charles Onunaiju (THE SUN)
It’s noteworthy that the South African article appeared in Independent Online (IOL), an outlet co-owned by a consortium of companies with links to the Chinese government. The author, Wesley Seale, has published several articles praising the CPC. He also studied at Beijing Foreign Studies University and has links to South Africa’s ruling African National Congress.
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