I tell them China has multiple parties. What made them think it only has one? And what else did they say? Then we can go through the nonsense with a nit comb.
Edit: look at this shit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_China:
The People's Republic of China is a one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Despite this, eight minor political parties subservient to the CCP exist.
Wikipedia calls it a one-party state in the same opening paragraph that admits the existence of eight other parties. What's the criterion for being a one-party state? That only one party rules at a time? A lot of states fall into that category. Would the CPC allow another party to take control? Unlikely. But again, if that's the definition, then a lot of states fall into that category.
I find the problem with that is you start falling into the trap of implicitly accepting their narrative that the number of parties has any impact on whether the system is democratic or not. I'd argue it's better to push back on the whole notion from the start.
I tell them China has multiple parties. What made them think it only has one? And what else did they say? Then we can go through the nonsense with a nit comb.
Edit: look at this shit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_China:
Wikipedia calls it a one-party state in the same opening paragraph that admits the existence of eight other parties. What's the criterion for being a one-party state? That only one party rules at a time? A lot of states fall into that category. Would the CPC allow another party to take control? Unlikely. But again, if that's the definition, then a lot of states fall into that category.
I find the problem with that is you start falling into the trap of implicitly accepting their narrative that the number of parties has any impact on whether the system is democratic or not. I'd argue it's better to push back on the whole notion from the start.
The colon at the end of the url breaks it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_China