{"id":89818,"date":"2020-10-20T07:12:48","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T12:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=89818"},"modified":"2020-10-20T07:39:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T12:39:42","slug":"auto-draft-271","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2020\/10\/20\/auto-draft-271\/","title":{"rendered":"US 2020 election: Who does China really want to win?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"BBC \u2014 US presidential elections have long been a source of both intrigue and irritation for China’s Communist Party rulers.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As arguably the most consequential exercises in democracy on the planet, they are always closely followed<\/a> by government officials in Beijing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But as potential reminders of just how little choice 1.4 billion people are given over their own political future, media coverage in China is tightly controlled<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This time round though, in a US election defined by a still spiralling pandemic, a shattered economic landscape and deep political polarisation, China senses that something has changed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It is not Chinese authoritarianism but Western democracy that suddenly seems to be facing a crisis of legitimacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The world’s freest and wealthiest economy, once thought to be so much better placed to fight the virus with its tools of transparency and accountability, has fallen well short.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While China, despite an initial cover-up thought to expose its inherent weaknesses, has gone on to use the sweeping powers of a unitary, surveillance state to test and quarantine people at will, en masse and to great effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Factories, shops, restaurants, schools and universities are all open, passenger numbers on public transport are just a little below average, and it is the only major economy expected to grow, rather than shrink this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This has all been done in the absence of any public debate – in fact, heavy censorship has ensured quite the opposite – and without anyone ever being allowed to cast a meaningful vote for or against any decision maker, at any level of government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The sense that something fundamental is at stake, with the disparity now bringing into sharp relief not the weaknesses of China’s political values but their superiority, goes right to the very top.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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