China’s state-run Global Times on Wednesday celebrated the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as further evidence of American democracy’s inferiority to Chinese fascism. A handy “Chinese expert” was quoted to describe the state of U.S. politics as “a host of demons dancing in riotous revelry.”
The “expert” in question, China Institute of International Studies deputy director Zhang Tengjun, said McCarthy’s downfall “shows that against the backdrop of intensified bipartisan struggles, loyalty to the party triumphs everything, from the two parties’ ability to make compromises and reach consensuses in the interests of the American public.”
China does not have partisan struggles because only one party is allowed, absolute loyalty to that party is mandatory, and opponents are routinely jailed. Instead, China has vicious behind-the-scenes power struggles and ruthless political purges, and the losers face far dimmer prospects than Kevin McCarthy’s worst-case prognosis.
The Global Times was not in an introspective mood. Instead, it brought forth more Chinese experts to proclaim that democracy is inevitably doomed to blind partisan infighting and civil war because only Chinese-style single-party authoritarianism can efficiently manage the affairs of a great nation.
“If the two parties cannot make compromises and exercise restraint, but turn different political opinions into an excuse to crusade against the other side or launch a life-and-death struggle, it may lead to a deadlock or even a civil war, and the only consequence is that the foundation of democratic politics will be destroyed,” intoned Fudan University professor Wei Zongyou.
The Global Times wrapped up with the most anodyne take on the American political scene, as if the writers thought they were going to have a lot more fun milking the doom of McCarthy for political points but unexpectedly ran out of things to say:
The Democrats, sitting in the House chamber to watch the farce from afar, could laugh at the Republicans and accuse them of not being able to govern the country and being the reason behind ongoing political gridlock. But they also need to be aware that if the Republicans refuse to cooperate in any issue, the Biden administration’s political agenda may also suffer. A chaotic situation next year does not necessarily bode well for the Democratic Party, and the outcome of the 2024 election remains uncertain and unpredictable.
Say what you will about China’s propagandists, but they usually do not begin with quivering excitement to exploit an alleged weakness in democracy, and then sputter out with analysis that reads like something a fifth-grader wrote in a hurry for tomorrow’s civics class so he could get back to his Fortnite league.
A more incisive authoritarian shill might have focused on how the battle over irresponsible government spending set the stage for McCarthy’s downfall, but the tyrants of Beijing might have been reluctant to criticize governments for spending too much money, especially since a big part of America’s mind-blowing debt surge over the past few years was a direct result of a pandemic that began in Wuhan, China.
American parliamentary battles are rather staid compared to many other legislatures in the free world. Those who approve of McCarthy’s ouster might argue that the plodding stability of the U.S. legislature, with its sky-high incumbency rates and ancient representatives-for-life, is one of the big problems with our government.
A livelier Congress with more leadership sackings – perhaps something a bit less exciting than Taiwan’s chronic lawmaker fistfights – might be preferable to our current path of plodding over a fiscal cliff with automatic spending increases and “budget battles” that can only end one way. In any event, single-party autocracies have nothing useful to contribute to discussions of how representative government should work.