Lijian Zhao, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Office, praised Pakistan as a “true iron brother” for declining an invitation to the Biden administration’s “Summit for Democracy” this week.
Taiwan was invited to the meeting by US President Joe Biden, angering China, which considers the island to be its territory.
The one-of-a-kind conference put Biden’s claim — made in his maiden foreign policy address as president in February — that he would restore US global leadership to combat authoritarian forces led by China and Russia to the test.
