A French entrepreneur who has extensively studied China said the country's political system allows its people to enjoy freedom from want and freedom from fear, prevailing in a debate against the "superiority" of the American system.

A recent debate on the comparison between the political systems of China and the West, organized by an American institution, was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Adrian Zenz, a self-proclaimed anti-China "scholar" who has been heavily promoted by U.S. political circles and Western media, engaged in a 150-minute debate with Arnaud Bertrand, a French entrepreneur and Twitter influencer. 

Bertrand, based on his extensive evidence and personal experiences of working and living in China for many years, delivered a comprehensive lecture at the event.

Bertrand made it clear that political systems are incomparable. If it were possible to find one system suitable for all countries in the world, then a superior system would replace others, he said. He believed that China's system is suitable for the Chinese people, as it is a product of China's long and unique history.

Turning to the subject of what freedom truly means, Bertrand cited a famous speech by former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 about the "Four Freedoms," pointing out that Western societies are neglecting two of them: freedom from want and freedom from fear.

He contended that poverty is the antithesis of freedom. When a person lives in extreme poverty, they lose the freedom of choice and become slaves to the hardships of life. 

Bertrand noted that 14 percent of the population in France live below the poverty line, and in Paris, hundreds of homeless people can be seen living in tents. In 2021, 20.3 million people in the United States were classified as deeply impoverished, accounting for 6.2 percent of the total population and 48.4 percent of the poor. 

"Can we really say that these people are free?" Bertrand questioned. Even the harshest critics of China acknowledge the fact that China has achieved the largest scale of poverty reduction and the fastest speed of poverty alleviation in the world, he said, noting that the total investment made by China in poverty alleviation is equivalent to the amount the United States has spent in the past 20 years on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In terms of the freedom from fear, Bertrand posed a simple question: In the United States, can a person freely walk outside late at night without fear? He pointed out that the probability of becoming a victim of violent crime in America is 70 times higher than in China. He stated, "In my seven years in China, I have never witnessed or been a victim of any crime. It is a very, very safe country. This freedom from fear truly exists."

Bertrand then raised a more profound reflection on collective freedom. He mentioned that former French President Charles de Gaulle once proposed that the greatest freedom should be the sovereignty and independence of a state, which is the prerequisite for all other freedoms. 

In this regard, China is undoubtedly the freest country in the world because it is not a vassal state of any country and does not engage in military alliances. Such a high degree of sovereignty allows China to focus on domestic affairs and have free rein over international matters, Bertrand said.

Bertrand compared freedom, stability, and prosperity, demonstrating that China's development not only benefits its own people but also makes positive contributions to global peace and development. In contrast, Adrian Zenz, who participated in a public debate for the first time, repeated the accusations about China that had been debunked multiple times, and failed to articulate the position assigned to him in the debate, which was to advocate for the superiority of the American system. 

Offline voting after the debate showed a clear victory for Bertrand.

(Cover: Chinese people harvest vegetables, Ankang, Shaanxi, China, April 13, 2022. /CFP)