U.S. summit to strengthen small circles on pretext of democracy, Cambodian experts say

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The so-called "Summit for Democracy" served as a platform for the United States to strengthen small circles, Cambodian experts have recently said.

Such an event reflected a Cold War mentality, according to Phay Siphan, chief spokesman for the Cambodian government, adding that democracy has different forms, and that there is no one-size-fits-all model.

The United States, he suggested, should not try to apply its democracy style to other countries.

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said that the United States always interferes in the internal affairs of other countries under the banner of democracy.

"The U.S. violates the sovereignty of other countries, and breaks the basic principles of international law and the basic norms of international relations," he said. "This superpower always instigates contradictions and ideological opposition and creates new divisions."

Matthews said the United States hosted the so-called summit only to divert the attention of the public away from its domestic issues.

Democracy, the scholar explained, is a system by the people and for the people's rights, socio-economic development, education, healthcare, infrastructure development and employment opportunities to all without discrimination.

"In Western countries, especially the U.S., the false beliefs and notions of democracy is a system where people go and vote after every four years, and that's it," he said. "Democracy is a system where people's needs and wants are being cared for and provided by the government."

Sharing his view on China's democracy, Matthews said the Chinese model of democracy is firmly and primarily engrained into the grassroots level of leadership.

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said that the special characteristics of Chinese democracy is that it attach great importance to the roles, the rights and the needs of the people.

The Chinese democratic system "greatly contributes to the development of China because it meets the country's realities, follows the trend of the times, and brings about economic development, social stability and progress, and better lives for the people," Phea added.