China's system finds support in debate

A spirited online debate titled "Is the Chinese System Better than the American System" featured a French entrepreneur who lived in China and defended its political system as having evolved naturally.

In the YouTube debate organized by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Arnaud Bertrand argued for the Chinese system against Adrian Zenz, a China expert based in Washington DC. The debate drew more than 1,000 comments on YouTube, most of them praising Bertrand.

"The Chinese model plays uniquely only to China (and) is a product of China's very long and unique history. It also fits the very particular context that China is in today," said Bertrand. "But it doesn't fit or pretend to fit other countries."

Comparing how China and the US view their own systems, Bertrand quoted Stephen Ward, professor of ethics at the University of British Columbia: "China explicitly embraces the idea that each country should determine for itself how it's governed. The US by contrast loves to lecture others how they should govern themselves and keep trying to get other countries to embrace our liberal values."

Bertrand argued that while the West and its values have done a lot to provide freedom, prosperity and stability for people over many decades, "there are little doubts that it's increasingly losing its way".

Meanwhile, "the Chinese system has become better in many ways at providing stability, prosperity and even freedom for its people", said Bertrand.

Bertrand said that "China might not be the unfree state most people in the West picture it as; vice versa, the West might not be quite so free."

He pointed to China's war on poverty that resulted in the largest and fastest reduction of poverty in the world and provided personal freedom as a result.

Poverty is the antithesis of freedom, said Bertrand.

While homelessness is becoming a major social problem in the US and France, "in China you won't see homeless people", he said.

He also pointed out that 6 percent of Americans live in deep poverty based on US Census Bureau data, and a survey found that 25 percent of the US population worried about money for food. "Those people are not really free," he said.

In term of freedom from fear, Americans can't walk anywhere at any time in the US, but such freedom by and large exists in China, he explained.

"You are 70 times more likely to be victim of a violent crime in the US than you are in China," said Bertrand. He also cited his own victim-free experience and that of his acquaintances all the years that he lived in China.

"China is literally the oldest continuous civilization in the history of mankind," he said.

Bertrand cited a 13-year study by Harvard University that concluded that there is little evidence that the Chinese Communist Party is losing legitimacy in the eyes of its people, with 93 percent satisfied with the central government.

In contrast, trust in government is 20 percent in the US, and 28 percent in France; 43 percent of Americans believe civil war is possible in the next 10 years.

China invested 14 trillion yuan ($2.1 trillion) between 2014 and 2021 dedicated to lifting people out of poverty, while the US was spending that much on wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, Bertrand said.

"The Chinese system with its emphasis on critical freedom, long-term stability and unwavering investment in itself has demonstrated its ability to provide a more holistic approach to societal well-being. The Chinese system provides greater overall stability, prosperity and even freedom," concluded Bertrand.

Zenz argued that it is the smart and hard-working Chinese people, not the system, which created the economic miracle and success of China. He also accused China of violating human rights in Xinjiang.

Bertrand countered Zenz's argument by pointing toward India, where "people are smart and hard working just like the Chinese" with a Western-style democracy, but poverty remains prevalent following its independence from the UK in 1947.

Bertrand said that the foreigners' claim about Xinjiang is not true, and the United States banning exports from Xinjiang only hurts Uygur people more.

Not a single Muslim-majority country has backed the West's claim against China over Xinjiang, he said. In fact, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) made a statement after visiting Xinjiang: "We commend the efforts of the People's Republic of China" for the care of its Muslim citizens.

"When we talk about democracy here in the West, we live in a facade of a democracy. Yes, we get to vote every few years, but in most cases the choices boil down to two parties which aren't that different," said "Big Blue Monkey". "They'll never truly represent the average person in the street."

"For all of the achievements [of China], the West has nothing good to say about it. China suffers from intense anti-China propaganda from the West. Western media used the keyword ‘Communist' to instill fear and hatred towards China. Everything China does is negatively reported," commented someone in Malaysia.

"As a Singaporean, I welcome China's growth any day over Americans' gunboat diplomacy," read another comment.