Eric Lee made an important point in his article for the New York Times, "Debunking Myths about China", when he wrote that hypotheses that do not stand up to the facts yet still dominate people's consciousness are specious and harmful.

Some people in the West were jumping with joy after the Cold War ended, claiming "the end of history" and supposing that the world belonged to them from then on and that they could transform the world in accordance to their will.

However, 20 years on and the world has not gone in the direction they assumed and the Western model of democracy has proved to be less perfect and almighty than they preached.

Some people in the United States have voiced their doubts about their own democracy to me in our private talks. Indeed, many of the problems in US society originate from its democracy. For example, partisan politics, a characteristic of US democracy, has revealed all kinds of obvious maladies. The interests of the party, whether Democratic or Republican, and the pursuit of votes, takes precedence over the interests of the nation and the interests of the people. Plenty of beautiful and pleasant words can be heard during an election, but how many of these promises actually materialize once the election is won.

Although European democracy is different from that of the US, the aim of all parties and politicians is the same, victory in elections. To win more votes, they have to please the voters, which has led some European countries to the abyss of debt.

Every country needs to adapt to globalization and improve its competitiveness. This requires changes. But Europeans are scared of changes, which is why reformists usually lose elections. Any changes often lead to large-scale strikes and protests. The shortcomings of this system are evident.

What makes China different from the West is that China welcomes reform.

The West has criticized China's political system for a long time. But 30 years of fast economic growth have improved the lives of Chinese people considerably, and the Chinese government has done a good job of lifting a huge number of people out of poverty during those 30 years, an achievement unprecedented in human history.

Of course, China has had to deal with many challenges and problems as it develops, and there are challenges ahead, but we are willing to address these in accordance with China's national conditions.

If we simply copied the Western model, the serious problems evident in the West would be greatly amplified in China.

The world is going through some fundamental changes at present and the whole world is reflecting upon its history. The important lesson we can draw from the article by Eric Lee is that the most powerful arguments are supported by facts.

As long as we present the real China in a reasonable way based on facts, the world will see China as it truly is at last.

The author is a former Chinese ambassador to France and former president of the China Foreign Affairs University. The article first appeared in People's Daily.

(China Daily 07/28/2011 page8)