When meeting with diplomatic envoys of ASEAN countries, including the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei to China recently, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Liu Jinsong used proverbs of these countries to expound his views on democracy, which struck a chord with the diplomatic envoys.

·There is no one-size-fits-all criterion when it comes to democracy, just as the Malaysian proverb "there are different grasshoppers in different fields" goes; Asian countries have different paths toward democracy, as what is suggested by the Thai proverb "good cinnabar is red even without coloring".

Liu Jinsong said that countries around the world have such diverse national conditions and different cultures and development paths that their models of democracy are differing. Asian countries have explored paths to democracy in their development endeavors, e.g. China's whole-process people's democracy, Indonesia's "Pancasila", and democratic wisdom of Singapore and Malaysia embodying "Asian values". In today's world, "good governance in Asia" versus "chaos in the West" fully demonstrate that the building of a democratic system needs to be in line with a country's national conditions and the fundamental interests of its people, and that in the final analysis, the people of a country should be the judge of whether the country is democratic. Only democracy that is deeply rooted in the realities of a country can truly seek happiness for its people.

·Countries should not be lectured about how to build their own democracy. As the Singaporean proverb "a person who is not upright himself will lead others astray" goes, no one has the right to point fingers at other countries' democratic systems. And in particular, no country is allowed to, as the Bruneian proverb "hasten to calve" and the Thai proverb "use feet to fend water instead of sculling with hands" talk about, undermine the advances of regional countries' democracy for its private gains.

Liu Jinsong said that the ancient civilizations that last over a thousand years have nurtured an inclusive and diverse Asian civilization. Despite differences in political systems and development paths, Asian countries share the same views on democracy and values. Democracy is a common value of humanity. A one-size-fits-all model of democracy for the whole world does not exist, and democracy is not a monopoly of the West. Democracy imposed by the West all ended in catastrophe. China is firmly opposed to a certain country posing as the "leader of democracy", which divides the democracy of other countries into different levels of a hierarchy with its own "bad records of democracy" in an attempt to launch "democratic transformation". Asian countries should stand firmly opposed to any acts that undermine the sovereignty of other countries, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and subvert the governments of other countries under the banner of democracy and human rights.

·Asian countries should be vigilant against the anti-democracy practices of the Western countries led by the United States under the excuse of democracy just as the Thai proverb "make a shape out of water" and the Indonesian proverb "a leopard cat with chicken feathers attached" depict, and keep them from "bearing fruits from whatever trees they plant" (a Philippine proverb), which will damage the common interests of developing countries.

Liu Jinsong said, the United States has recently peddled the "democracy versus autocracy" narrative in the name of the "Summit for Democracy", politicized democracy and used it as a weapon to form exclusive small blocs and groups and label regional supply and industrial chains and high-tech with the ideology and democratic values of the West, engaged in division and decoupling, and obstructed the regional cooperation process, which will undoubtedly damage the coordination and cooperation of the international community to address global challenges and harm the interests of all parties. Developing countries should join hands to uphold fairness and justice, defend and develop true democracy, and effectively safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.

Diplomatic envoys to China said, our Asian countries have our own time-honored and unique democratic systems and democratic traditions. We all like the Chinese proverb "only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches" quoted by President Xi Jinping. We should make full use of the wisdom of the East to build suitable democratic systems based on our national conditions. Democracy should become more colorful as human civilizations continuously deepen mutual learning. Different countries have different political systems. A country's political system should not be considered as a condition for normal interaction with it or not. ASEAN countries are willing to strengthen the exchange of experience in governance with China and work together to maintain world peace and stability and boost common prosperity.