WASHINGTON, Dec 9 — Democracy faces “sustained and alarming challenges” worldwide, US President Joe Biden said today at a virtual summit on democracy where he sparked controversy by pointedly not inviting China and Russia.
The two-day event, held by video link because of the coronavirus pandemic, was billed by the White House as US leadership in an existential struggle between democracies and powerful autocracies or dictatorships. Biden went into the summit with the United States facing criticism over the foreign guest list and deep trouble on the domestic political front, with Donald Trump pursuing his shocking attempt to discredit the 2020 election in which he lost.China and Russia, which Biden describes as leaders of the autocracies camp, were demonstratively excluded, prompting scathing complaints.
For example, Pakistan and the Philippines were invited, while EU member Hungary’s nationalist government was out. Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was invited, while the leader of NATO member Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was shunned.Biden called on world leaders to make concrete pledges during the summit and the United States kicked off with a promise of US$424 million worth of programs to help protect media freedoms, combat corruption and support free elections around the world.
And with shockwaves from the January 6 storming of Congress by Trump supporters still reverberating, there are growing fears over the 2022 legislative elections and the 2024 presidential vote in which Trump may seek a comeback.
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