KEY POINTS:
Democracy is a glass of clean milk in the morning.
For most of Asia a general election in New Zealand is insignificant, but in China it does not even flicker on the edges of the collective consciousness.
That is not just because New Zealand is a small island
nation perched on the edge of the world - the average Chinese person is probably far more aware of the country's existence than the average American, thanks to ubiquitous pirated copies of The Lord of the Rings, the recent free-trade agreement and a series of documentaries on state-run television.
The lack of interest in who will sit in the Beehive for the next three years has more to do with the fact that democracy is a foreign concept in the world's most populous nation.
The closest most Chinese citizens get to the magical, messy democratic process is when state media report the latest twist in the endless American presidential campaign.
While watching the Republican national convention on television recently I asked some Chinese colleagues who they wanted to win and what they thought about being able to elect a Government.
"For someone like me who has no experience with democracy it just seems like a big show," one of them replied.
Turning back to the confetti and balloon drop that followed the sound bite-riddled, substance-lite speeches I had to agree.
Even so, the experience of living in an authoritarian state has made me a firm believer and a tedious proselytiser on the benefits of liberal democracy.
As a dual New Zealand and United States citizen I am very proud of the fact that this year I get to exercise my democratic rights in two general elections in the heart of the world's largest autocracy.
I voted in the last election at the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing and experienced the same furtive pleasure one might get from drinking whisky in Riyadh, eating a pork sandwich in Jerusalem or attending a strip show in Vatican City.
I have a vague notion that my votes should in some way represent the wishes of my 1.3 billion voteless neighbours so I have conducted some unscientific research into who the Chinese nation would prefer to be running things in the United States and in New Zealand.
In the United States election, my research suggests Chinese people are more likely to back Obama, based on the fact he is less likely to start a crazy war with China or any other country.
No one I spoke to could name any New Zealand politicians but I think the ruling elite in this nominally communist nation would prefer Rodney Hide because his ideological platform is more closely aligned with the free-wheeling, robber-baron capitalism that reigns in China today.
Hundreds of millions of young parents may be more inclined to vote for Helen Clark, after her Government blew the whistle on China's infant milk powder scandal last month.
Unfortunately for brand New Zealand, this whole sorry episode has tainted the country's good name with the melamine brush, and cut Kiwi dairy farmers out of what is probably the biggest market opportunity for international dairy producers in a generation.
Nobody in China is willing to drink domestic milk products and sales of dairy imports have skyrocketed while Fonterra's brand has been damaged beyond repair.
I was at the signing ceremony in Beijing nearly three years ago when Fonterra bought a 43 per cent stake in the company at the heart of the poisoned milk scandal and I remember asking some of the Fonterra executives and their advisers if they really knew what they were doing.
Presumably they were aware that China had been hit by numerous health scares in recent years that followed a very similar pattern of official denial and suppression - from the Sars epidemic to another baby milk powder scandal that killed at least 12 children just four years ago.
Under the current system of government in China, the state owns or has close links with most domestic companies, including Fonterra's Chinese partner, and with no oversight from the public there is ample room for misdeeds, corruption and cover-ups.
The media are tightly controlled by the ruling Communist Party and barred from reporting anything that makes the Government look bad, so health scares and other crises don't come to light until they reach unmanageable proportions.
Without the democratic staples of a free press, public oversight or elections of officials who regulate the industries they own, crises like these will continue to erupt, no matter how many people Beijing executes as a deterrent.
So I guess my message from this part of the world is: enjoy your glass of clean milk in the morning and spare a thought for those who don't have the chance to participate in democracy when you're standing in the voting booth on November 8.
* Jamil Anderlini is deputy Beijing bureau chief for the Financial Times.
