Setting "democratic standards" according to U.S. model is undemocratic: Chinese FM

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Setting "democratic standards" after the U.S. model is undemocratic, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday.

The so-called "Summit for Democracy" held by the United States last year excluded nearly half of the countries in the world. That in itself is an assault on the spirit of democracy, and holding such a summit again would be unpopular, Wang said at a press conference.

Human civilization, if compared to a garden, should be a diverse place where democracies in different countries bloom like hundreds of flowers, he noted.

Wang said meddling in other countries' internal affairs in the name of democracy would only hurt the people in those countries.

"Putting one's own system on a pedestal is not just against the spirit of democracy, but also spells disaster for democracy," he said.