Abstract
Being two major locomotives of economic globalization, the EU and China have fundamental divergences in their views on a just political system. Such divergences hinge on their perceptions of democracy and its appropriate role in bilateral and multilateral contexts. Although democracy as an idea has been embraced by both sides, it has been a consistent source of misunderstandings and conflicts. Major divergences exist at two levels. First, the EU and China disagree regarding whether China is a democracy. While the EU treats China’s political system as undemocratic, China believes that the current system reflects its national conditions and has performed well in accommodating democracy. Second, the EU believes that democratic values can be externally promoted while China opposes external intervention. China treats democracy as purely a domestic issue.
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Notes
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© 2012 Stefanie Weil and Yijia Jing
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Weil, S., Jing, Y. (2012). The EU and China’s Perceptions of Democracy and Their Impact on China-EU Relations. In: Pan, Z. (eds) Conceptual Gaps in China-EU Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137027443_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137027443_8
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