THE REALITY OF CHINA'S DEMOCRACY

This letter from a reader at Guardian.UK:

I am very disappointed to read the article by Fu Ying, the Chinese ambassador in London (Bringing out the best in us, September 4). I feel that Fu has taken advantage of media freedom in this country to spread lies and Chinese communist regime propaganda. He does not speak for the Chinese people. In my view, the Beijing Olympics were not successful because they did not represent the real Olympic spirit, even though China has won many medals. It has been used by the communist regime as a showcase, in the same way as last century's Berlin Olympics were used by Hitler. Behind those shining medals, there were blood, suffering, arrests, torture and even deaths of innocent people.

Fu Ying claims China will "develop democracy and prosperity in line with its own culture and social conditions". Culture here means the Communist party's culture, which has certainly not come from the real traditional Chinese culture. The word democracy has been used by the regime only when it can help to polish its image. There has been no democracy under the communist regime; no free elections, only tyranny.

Fu also says that China should not be expected to become a carbon copy of a western society. As a Chinese person who lived under the communists for over 30 years, with three generations in my family suffering from the regime's persecution, I would say that the communist regime has been using this kind of statement for many years as an excuse to refuse to find out why people in western societies have been more relaxed and happier. Instead, it has copied and developed genocide and labour camps from the Soviet Union and Hitler.

Ze Xia
London

I hope the Chinese goons do not harm this person.