China and the Bali Democracy Forum

China is among the curious guests invited to next week’s Bali Democracy Forum to spread the gospel of representative government.

But it won’t feel alone. Also going are envoys from Burma, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

I’m sure they’ll all have plenty to say at the Dec. 10-11 acheter cialis forum, including why their countries simply aren’t ready for democracy.

The forum is the idea of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who then pulled in Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as co-chair.

Indonesia is feeling a tad defensive about the odd guest list, even if its own record on democracy over the past decade has been pretty stellar.

“This is not a forum among democracies, this is a forum about democracies,” said Umar Hadi, director of public diplomacy in Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry.

Julia miles

Indonesia’s public diplomacy chief, Andri Hadi, said the forum would let envoys discuss issues of common concern such as regular and genuine elections, multiparty systems in pluralistic and tolerant societies, effective parliaments, independent judiciaries, rule of law, protection and promotion of human rights, good governance, and creating an active and vibrant media.

Great topics. But you gotta wonder: Why invite governments that do their best to prevent all these conditions from happening?

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