China Is a democracy

I'll post links to my sources in the next round, due to that I had computer issues. I feared I was going to have to forfeit this debate, but I should just post something, even though I can't offer the links. Definition of democracyThis debate largely depends on the definition of "democracy". I would argue that there is no country which has a democracy today, as most have republics or parliamentary monarchies. Pro didn't offer any definition of democracy, so I choose to go by that it means the people directly vote for the laws of the nation and are the ones who have the power in the nation, where there are no politicians or leaders. Democracy, literally means rule of the people. The people do not rule in most countries today, and rather, politicans do in most countries. China is very much the same. China's ranking on the democracy indexEven if you want to liberally apply the term democracy to include countries that elect their leaders, when one looks at the democracy index 2015, China is ranked as an authoritarian regime at 3.14 on the 0-10 scale, it's not even a democracy or a flawed democracy. [1] Limitation of political partiesNow, my opponent points out that China has other political parties which would help make it a democracy. However, these parties are not free. They are forced to be subservient to the China Communist party and accept the CCP as the ruling party in order to be allowed to exist.[2] No true democracy would do such a thing. I would argue that a true democracy would also never ban any political parties. In the United States, for example, communist and socialist parties are not banned. They still exist even though they directly oppose the way of life for America. I would hold China to the same standard: it should not ban any political parties even if they are directly opposed to the way of life in China. The fact that some republics ban political parties, it means, in my opinion, they are a little less democratic. I argue, that, banning free speech or limiting it in any way also makes your country a little less democratic. China does both of these things, and China bans free speech in many instances, as my opponent has agreed. Free speechNow, my opponent says that con should offer an explanation for a line that is to be drawn for what speech can be restricted but still allow a country to be a democracy. I say there is not a specific line. To be a full democracy, ranked as a 10, which no country is a perfect 10 on the democracy index, you need to not limit any free speech. If free speech is limited, the more limited it is, the further away from a perfect democracy the country gets. Free speech is so limited in China, the average citizen cannot even express any discontent with the Chinese adminstration, and this is reserved only for an elite group of people [3]. No modern republic that is ranked highly on the democracy index, does this. Some of them have some limitations on free speech, but not to the degree that you can't even express disapproval with the current administration. China's supposed "competitive" electionsPro claims that china has competitice elections. If they were competitive, there would be a chance for someone other than a member of the China communist party to take office, but as you can see on the wiki page on this topic, candidates outside of the China Communist Party face government intervention that undermines their candidacy, and in practive, the power of other parties and candidates are elliminated [4]. No true democracy would do this. Sources:[1] Wikipedia, "Democracy Index"[2] Wikipedia, "List of political parties in the People's Republic of China" [3] cecc.gov, "Freedom of Expression in China: A Privilege, Not a Right" [4] Wikipedia, "Elections in the People's Republica of China"