Tuesday, November 9, 2010

China Praises Democracy?!

Well, sort of...

BBC News
Burma's main military-backed political party says it won about 80% of votes in the first election in 20 years.

A Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) official said the party was pleased with the result.

The main pro-democracy party, the NLD, boycotted the poll but other opposition groups have alleged widespread fraud.

China praised the ruling generals for the vote, which marked a "transition to an elected government". But the poll has been widely condemned as a sham.

"This is a critical step for Myanmar (Burma) in implementing the seven-step road map in the transition to an elected government, and thus is welcome," said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

He said the vote was carried out in a "steady and smooth manner".

Wait... did I miss something? China held popular elections? Or was Mr. Hong Lei congratulating the military dictators in giving an illusion of democracy while keeping power to themselves...

No comments: