Dear Elsa,
There are many advantages to democracy and I am glad you in America are satisfied with it.
We in China like what we have and see no reason to change it.
In years past many of our citizens left to study abroad and some did not return. But now, seeing the clear progress our nation has made under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, more and more are starting to come back. They are not under any pressure to return. They do so because they want to be part of one of the greatest experiments in social, political and economic organization the world has ever seen.
Nowhere, ever, has a project of this scale been tried out and because of it, Chinese feel very proud.
In a very short period, historically speaking, we have transformed our vast nation. We have become a power in science and industry, and soon will become the leading economy of the world.
There is no stopping us.
How can you argue with this kind of success?
If the great majority of people were not happy they would not be working hard. Sure, there are some dissatisfied too. There will always be those.
Is there corruption? Yes. But if you are caught you are punished severely, not just given a slap in the hand like in America.
One of the most important steps forward for the Communist Party was the recognition that money is a wonderful incentive. In the earliest periods of social organization under the rule of the Communist Party, money was criticized. But that has changed radically.
Now anyone with good ideas can make good money in China, so long as they play by the rules we set. We do have capital controls, for instance, so we let you take some of the money out of the country but not all, for we need it to run the nation.
Anyone can build a great company in our land, but they will have to allow for supervision by members of the government. This makes for discipline and helps avoid excesses.
People with money in our country cannot simply decide one day that they want to run for president. That will not happen in China.
But it can happen in America. And Elsa, that is not good.
To be part of the governing body in our land you have to have been educated as a party member and have spent a lifetime serving the people. You cannot, like Mr Trump, decide one day that you want to be president, just because you were bored building hotels.
In your country money buys the elections. If you do not have money then you cannot pay for advertising and the people will laugh at you. It doesn’t matter how competent a person you may be, people will say, ‘show me the money!’. Do Americans not have firm convictions of their own that they have to go by what advertisers tell them?
And it is that same money that opens doors for people to make deals so they can turn around and have even more money.
So what happens to the average person? They get left out. They are not heard. Sure, the politicians go around shaking hands and asking questions and kissing babies, but in the end it is the people with money who influence the big decisions. The rest is a good show.
There is another more problematic side to democracy. People have trouble getting along.
In your congress, for instance, one half thinks the other half does not know what they are talking about.
And after more than two centuries as a nation you have yet to solve the racial problem. What does that tell you about democracy? All those years and you could not come to the table and acknowledge that Blacks are just like Whites. (We can discuss the Uighur problem another time).
Elsa, China is the future. Our political system is the future. And we Chinese designed it.
America is in decline. How else can you understand the lack of a coordinated effort in handling the coronavirus, the assault on the capitol, the continued bitterness between brothers and sisters.
Politics is a sport in America and much energy is wasted because of it. Not in China. And because of it we will surpass you.
It is sad to see your fast decline. You still have a few decades left but, unless there is a miracle, I do not see your citizens ever uniting. They do not want to. Texans believe that your God looks on them more favorably than on Californians, and vice versa.
Elsa, the world is now looking to us as we shine a bright light on the path to follow.
If you have not visited our great land, please do so and witness history in the making.
Best
Xi Jinping
Chairman
People’s Republic of China
Founded Oct 1, 1949
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Oscar Valdes 