A Reuters article today outlines an opinion piece in the People’s Daily that warns Chinese citizens against the ills of democracy. This is happening around the time of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, which makes the Chinese Communist Party particularly sensitive to discussions of political reforms.

The Reuters article quotes the People’s Daily: “From western Asia to North Africa, many countries have slipped into the confused madness of ‘western democracy’, which has neither brought happiness nor stability. The PD’s warning echoes the explicit warning against Western-style democracy was a part of Document No. 9, reported in the West in 2013. It shows that in a pinch, the Communist Party will come down on democracy. This is in a period when China’s economy is slowing and the need to justify political legitimacy is increasing. If this kind of messaging becomes sustained, you could imagine a more ideological dimension emerging between China and the outside world.

With these kinds of things, I would have liked to read the original piece in the People’s Daily to understand the language used. But I’m told by Isitdownrightnow? that the PD (English) is not available – which, if foreign viewers are being blocked, may be a sign of how worried the Chinese Communist Party is at this time.