China has kept a low profile over the violence that erupted across Kenya after a disputed election on December 27 that critics say was rigged by President Mwai Kibaki.

The European Union and United States have urged Kenya's feuding politicians to end the confrontation that has so far killed about 500 people.

But the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, said Western powers were themselves to blame for imposing colonial rule and then Western-style electoral democracy on Africa.

"The Western 'democracy' transplanted to Africa is unsuited to local conditions and has sowed the seeds of disaster," said a commentary in the paper.

"The election crisis in Kenya is just one typical example. In fact, many African countries' elections have sparked political turmoil."

China has vigorously courted Africa in recent years, holding out expanding trade and aid that Beijing has stressed do not carry the political conditions often demanded by Western powers -- and none of their colonial past.

China is eager for oil, minerals and consumer markets, and willing to trade with Sudan, Zimbabwe and other countries avoided or sanctioned by Western countries.

The People's Daily said Kenya's turmoil reflected its past under British rule.

"Colonial rule was guilty of monstrous crimes and its after-effects are too numerous to list," the paper said, adding that imperial manipulation set the stage for ethnic or tribal splits in many African states.

The paper said Kenya's leaders and people should set aside their rivalries and focus on "stability and development".