COLOMBO: Democracy is not like Coca-Cola which has one formula and tastes the same around the world, Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong said in an opinion column published in the daily newspaper The Island.

“Democracy and human rights have been frequently manipulated by a few countries to exercise interference and hegemony, disturbing and disordering the world,” Ambassador Qi said. Qi said that democracy should be like flowers blooming in the garden, all beautiful but different and with their own features.

He added that roads to democracy are different and that democracy is not an ornamental decoration but a way to solve people’s problems. “Whether a country is a democracy or not depends on whether its people are really the masters of the country.

If the people are awakened only for voting but have no say after the election, such a democracy is not a true democracy,” Qi said.

He said that democracy should be evaluated by orderly replacement of leadership; the ability of people to manage state, social, economic, and cultural affairs; people’s access to channels to express appeals and complaints; and people’s ability to participate in national political life.

The ambassador said that the approach of “whole process people’s democracy” exists in all steps of democratic election, consultation, decision-making, management, and supervision in China.

“This approach enables unity of process and results, procedure and substance, direct and indirect democracy, as well as people’s democracy and the will of the state.

It is the broadest, most genuine, and most effective socialist democracy,” he said.