The US State Department has invited 110countries to the upcoming summit on democracy hosted by US President Joe Biden.China, the United States' principal rival, is not invited, while Taiwan is -- amove that risks angering Beijing. Turkey, which like America is a member ofNATO, is also missing from the list of participants.
China has reacted sharply after Bidenadministration invited Taiwan to its "Summit for Democracy" nextmonth and snubbed Beijing by not inviting it for the virtual summit. Chineseforeign ministry said that it 'firmly opposes' to Taiwan joining Bidendemocracy summit. In a strong message to U.S, Beijing said that 'setting astage for Taiwan separatists will only make you stuck in an embarrassingsituation'. It went on to say that 'by playing with fire with Taiwanseparatists, you will only burn your own fingers'.
In the South Asian region Afghanistan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have been excluded. Traditional US allies from the MiddleEast like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates havenot been invited. Only Israel and Iraq will be invited from the region.
Biden invited Brazil even though its far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized as having an authoritarianbent and was a firm supporter of Donald Trump.
The online gathering is an event Joe Bidenvowed to host while a candidate for president last year, with the goal ofrallying like-minded countries around efforts to fight corruption andauthoritarianism and advance human rights.
The theme of the summit is to galvanizecommitments and initiatives across three principal themes: defending againstauthoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.