THAILAND’S neutral stance towards China and Russia guaranteed its exclusion from the US Democracy Summit.
Hosted by American President Joe Biden.
In April of last year, Thailand abstained from a vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council and did the same on another UN vote condemning the Russian annexation of four regions of Ukraine in October.
The abstentions reflected Thailand’s stance to remain neutral in regard to the Russia-Ukraine conflict which in turn contradicted the interests being promoted by the US and its Western allies.
The summit hosted by US President Joe Biden kicked off on Wednesday and was participated by world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his counterparts from Slovakia, Malawi, Ecuador, Moldova, Niger, as well as the Prime Ministers of Denmark, India, and Israel, among others.
The event prided itself on promoting stronger democracy, countering authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.
It was co-hosted by Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Zambia, involving 120 countries.
The summit however earned criticisms for inviting participants that are in line with the political interests of the United States and not based on its democracy ratings.
