Fresh off its “Dishonest Americans” series [1], which claimed to offer an “objective picture of what real Americans are like”, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece newspaper, the People's Daily, has shocked again with another attempt to bash the American political system.
On June 27, 2013, the People's Daily published a piece titled [2] “American Political Paralysis Is the Result of its Political System”. The piece argues that the two-party system isn't effective and is the obstacle to solving many problems:
富有的政治献金者对竞选施加了太多影响，国会中的政党领袖在立法和分配重要委员会职位的过程中拥有过多权力。不满的情绪正在扩散，改变的诉求正在发声，美国急需政治改革。
Political donations from the wealthy have too much influence on elections. Congressional party leaders in key committee posts and in the allocation process have too much power. Discontent is spreading, change is demanded, the United States needs political reform.
Soon after its publication, the piece was picked up and shared on Sina Weibo [3] by Beijing News and ifeng News, triggering ridicule among netizens.
“PoodleBB” commented [4] [zh]:
A screenshot of the People's Daily's piece: American Political Paralysis Is the Result of its Political System
跟朝鲜的国民教育宣传片很一致
It's just like a North Korean propaganda video.
Finance Lawyer Miao Rui wrote [5] [zh] sarcastically:
美国都瘫痪了，怎么老婆儿女还往美国跑，财产还往美国移？
If the US is paralyzed, how come people's wives and children still try to immigrate to the United States? How come people are moving their wealth there?
“zaishuiyifang fenglingcai” hinted [6] [zh] that China should recognize its own political problems:
文章讲的是事实。世上没有没有完美的体制，只有相对优化，相对利于生产力和社会发展的体制。美国人值得我们学习的地方在于，承认自己不完美，容忍对不完美的批评，并逐步改善它。
The piece is telling the truth. However, there is no perfect system, only a relatively good one that is conducive to productivity and social development. What we can learn from the Americans is that they recognize that the system is not perfect, and they tolerate criticism and try to improve it.
Critic Zhu Qi tried to explain [7] [zh] what the political paralysis means for different societies:
美国不存在瘫痪的问题，在中国人的观念中，国家瘫痪了，好像一切都不行了。在美国，国家即政府，政府瘫痪了，社会自治还在运转，整个政治和经济体系照样在正常运行。但在中国，社会是附属于国家的，国家完了，意味着一切都瘫痪了。
The US doesn't have a problem with political paralysis. From the Chinese perspective, if the state is paralyzed, then everything doesn't work. However, in the United States, the state is the government. If the government is paralyzed, society continues to function. The entire political and economic system still works. But in China, society belongs to the state, if the state is finished, everything is paralyzed.
Most Chinese netizens appeared to think China needs political reform more than the US. “Zhang Chunyi” wrote [8] [zh]:
任何体制都会有缺陷。美国需要改革， 中国更需要！如果人民日报和人民网在与我们分享批判其他国家的制度缺陷的同时，也能勇于批判我们自己的问题，那么应该能得到更多的尊重。媒体的独立和客观是其存在的基础
Any system will have flaws. The United States needs reform, China needs it even more! If the People's Daily had the courage to criticize the deficiencies in our own system while sharing with us the problems in other countries, then they would get more respect. Media independence and objectivity are the foundation of its existence.
“Kayin Senlin_jt7” echoed [9] the same sentiment:
美国政治瘫痪言过其实，但是两党竞选中确有很多弊病，为了当选迎合选民说大话，实际做不到，选战花费巨大，尽管是捐款不是政府的钱……人民日报可以呼吁人家政治改革，但很可笑的是不敢呼吁本国的政治改革！
US political paralysis is exaggerated, although there are a lot of problems with campaigning in the two-party system. In order to cater to voters, candidates boast and say things that are impossible for them to achieve, and the cost of campaigns is huge, even though it's not government money …… People's Daily calls for the political reform of another country, but it is ridiculous that they dare not call for the political reform of its own country!