File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping
Beijing, China:
President Xi Jinping has defended the one-party rule in China saying the "world will be too boring" if all countries followed the same political system, a day after the world commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
"A person's shoes doesn't have to be identical to those of others but must fit the person's feet; a country's way of governance doesn't have to be the same with that of others but must benefit its own people," Xi said at the sixth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) here.
Only the citizens can tell whether the country's path of development suits them or not, he said.
"Just like we cannot turn all flowers violet, we cannot expect countries with different cultural traditions, historical experiences and national realities to follow the same mode of development. Otherwise the world will be too boring," Xi, also General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), added.
He, however, avoided direct reference to the international criticism of the CPC's decision to crush the pro-democracy movement in 1989 at the Tiananmen Square with heavy-handed military crackdown.
The CPC has monopolised political power in China since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.
While denouncing the international condemnation including that of the UN Human Rights Council Chief Navi Pillay as well as the United States, Xi justified the crackdown saying China has achieved 30 years of massive development under the socialist system.
Xi, 60, took over the reigns of the leadership last year in the once-in-a-decade-leadership change, and has quickly emerged as the most powerful leader of the party after Deng Xiaoping, the moderate leader who succeeded Mao in late seventies.
Inheriting the leadership of the party, presidency and the military together, unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao who had to wait for two years to take control of the army, Xi has quickly consolidated his base emerging as the most powerful Chinese leader in recent times.
Beijing also registered diplomatic protest with the US over Washington's criticism of reported arrests of pro-democracy activists all over the country ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
China tries hard to quash any public commemoration of the June 3-4 crackdown by the CPC when soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians - and by some estimates, more than 1,000 - to crush a movement by pro-democracy students.
China also denounced Japan for its call to China to respect freedom, human rights and rule of law.
Responding to Japanese criticism, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei sought to justify the CPC's decision saying "China has achieved a lot in human rights causes and economic and social development. These facts cannot be denied by anyone."
At the same time, he attacked Japan asking it to reflect over the "crimes against humanity" committed by its troops in China and other countries in Asia during the Second World War.
"To this day Japanese leaders are reluctant to face up to history and reflect over the aggression. Instead they are trying to reverse the history," he said.
He also wondered if Japan was in a position to talk about human rights and point fingers at China.
"We urge Japan to respect China's sovereignty and stop interfering in internal affairs," he added.
"A person's shoes doesn't have to be identical to those of others but must fit the person's feet; a country's way of governance doesn't have to be the same with that of others but must benefit its own people," Xi said at the sixth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) here.
Only the citizens can tell whether the country's path of development suits them or not, he said.
"Just like we cannot turn all flowers violet, we cannot expect countries with different cultural traditions, historical experiences and national realities to follow the same mode of development. Otherwise the world will be too boring," Xi, also General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), added.
He, however, avoided direct reference to the international criticism of the CPC's decision to crush the pro-democracy movement in 1989 at the Tiananmen Square with heavy-handed military crackdown.
The CPC has monopolised political power in China since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.
While denouncing the international condemnation including that of the UN Human Rights Council Chief Navi Pillay as well as the United States, Xi justified the crackdown saying China has achieved 30 years of massive development under the socialist system.
Xi, 60, took over the reigns of the leadership last year in the once-in-a-decade-leadership change, and has quickly emerged as the most powerful leader of the party after Deng Xiaoping, the moderate leader who succeeded Mao in late seventies.
Inheriting the leadership of the party, presidency and the military together, unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao who had to wait for two years to take control of the army, Xi has quickly consolidated his base emerging as the most powerful Chinese leader in recent times.
Beijing also registered diplomatic protest with the US over Washington's criticism of reported arrests of pro-democracy activists all over the country ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
China tries hard to quash any public commemoration of the June 3-4 crackdown by the CPC when soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians - and by some estimates, more than 1,000 - to crush a movement by pro-democracy students.
China also denounced Japan for its call to China to respect freedom, human rights and rule of law.
Responding to Japanese criticism, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei sought to justify the CPC's decision saying "China has achieved a lot in human rights causes and economic and social development. These facts cannot be denied by anyone."
At the same time, he attacked Japan asking it to reflect over the "crimes against humanity" committed by its troops in China and other countries in Asia during the Second World War.
"To this day Japanese leaders are reluctant to face up to history and reflect over the aggression. Instead they are trying to reverse the history," he said.
He also wondered if Japan was in a position to talk about human rights and point fingers at China.
"We urge Japan to respect China's sovereignty and stop interfering in internal affairs," he added.
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