President Biden urged a gathering of more than 100 leaders of democratic countries today to stop the backward slide of rights and democracy.
“In my view, this is the defining challenge of our time: Democracy. Government of the people, by the people, for the people can at times be fragile. But it also is inherently resilient,” Biden said.
His remarks came during the kick-off to his two-day virtual summit for democracy. He’s calling on fellow leaders to collaborate on defending against authoritarianism, combat corruption, and promote respect for human rights.
Both Taiwan and Ukraine are among the attendees while the authoritarian regimes in China and Russia were noticeably not invited as they continue their military harassment of their smaller neighbors.
Ahead of the summit, ambassadors from China and Russia, which are two of the world’s most repressive governments, wrote a joint editorial calling the gathering a product of a “cold war mentality” that will create new dividing lines.
The democracy summit comes as the U.S. faces a deepening divide on how to secure election results. President Biden said Thursday that no democracy is perfect, but all can lock arms and commit to being better.
A Pandemic of Authoritarianism
Meanwhile, critics are pointing out that many of the world’s leaders have deployed authoritarian methods during the pandemic, like COVID detention camps in Australia, broad lockdowns, mandatory vaccines, shuttering churches from New Jersey to California, and jailing pastors in Canada.
The Freedom House report called “Democracy under Lockdown” stated, “The country experts surveyed as part of the project identified four problems as the most acute during the COVID-19 pandemic: lack of government transparency and information on the coronavirus, corruption, lack of protection for vulnerable populations, and government abuses of power.”
“What began as a worldwide health crisis has become part of the global crisis for democracy,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “Governments in every part of the world have abused their powers in the name of public health, seizing the opportunity to undermine democracy and human rights.”
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