BEIJING • Two of China's main state-run newspapers heaped scorn yesterday on the US presidential election, saying the endless stream of scandals surrounding both main candidates showed the United States had no right to lecture others on democracy.

While Beijing has largely avoided commenting on the election, the state-run media has been given more leeway.

China often takes umbrage at foreign criticism of its one- party political system, particularly from the US, and says no country has the right to try and force it to change a system it says best suits its situation.

In a commentary, the Communist Party's official People's Daily described the US election "chaos", pointing to tax-related issues for "big mouth" Republican Donald Trump and the dispute over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server.

The commentary was published under the pen name "Zhong Sheng", or "Voice of China", often used to give views on foreign policy.

"For a long time, the United States has boasted about how its extremely lively election is a sign of the superiority of its system, and has even used this to wilfully criticise the vast majority of developing countries," it said. "This extreme self-belief and arrogance by the 'preacher of democracy' should be reined in."

The Global Times, in an editorial in its Chinese- and English-language editions, said the scandals showed that there was no superiority in Western democracy.

"Western countries have a legal system in place to secure social stability in the face of such chaos, but many developing countries which hastily learn from them only incur social instability," it said.

REUTERS