No matter that the Communist Party of China rules ...

[GoodTaste]

No matter that the Communist Party of China rules the country’s 1.4 billion people with no tolerance for opposition parties; that its leader, Xi Jinping, rose to power through an opaque political process without popular elections; that publicly calling for democracy in China is punished harshly, often with long prison sentences.
Source: New York Times

Does “no matter that” here simply mean “not to mention”? Longman Dictionary says it means unimportant,but the ruling is vital there.

 

[jutfrank]

This is politicised rhetoric from the New York Times.

Read No matter that as It doesn't matter that or It's irrelevent that. The idea is indeed to say that those things are unimportant according to China. What is important is that China is a democracy.

 

[Tdol]

I lived in a country that called itself a Democratic People's Republic. There were no elections- it saw its democratic legitimacy as overturning the previous regime- its demos was revolution. I take no sides on the issue, but there are different views on the issue. Very different ones.