Trend toward more democracy continues in Asia<\/p>\n
By Olaf Jahn<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (DPA): The collapse of the Soeharto regime in
\nIndonesia was only the latest chapter in a pro-democratic domino
\neffect that has been transforming Asia for a dozen years.<\/p>\n
The People's Power movement which swept Philippine dictator
\nFerdinand Marcos out of power in 1986, and mass demonstrations
\nthe same year in Taiwan which forced the first steps toward
\ndemocracy there may have seemed isolated developments at the
\ntime. But they were the birth pangs of a new, modern Asia.<\/p>\n
They gave encouragement to the fledgling pro-democracy
\nmovement in South Korea, a country which has since elected its
\nfirst democratic government. And in 1992 the people of Thailand
\n-- with the help of their revered king -- ended military rule in
\nthat country. The next year saw Cambodia's first free elections,
\nwhich forced Hun Sen, the authoritarian protege of the Vietnamese
\ncommunists, to share power.<\/p>\n
These last two countries show the process has not been without
\nreverses: Thais have lamented the instability caused by several
\nchaotic changes of government in recent years, while violence has
\nplagued Cambodia, and democracy there has appeared to be under
\nthreat.<\/p>\n
Yet the overall trend in the region remains that of increasing
\nparticipation by the people, with Asians demanding a say in the
\npolitical process and the right to control their politicians
\nthrough elections.<\/p>\n
Despite this pressure from below -- and from the West -- a
\nnumber of Asian governments have tried to slow the process
\ntowards democracy and basic human and political rights, usually
\nby wielding the cultural stop sign of \"Asian values.\"<\/p>\n
But even the term is nonsensical, attempting as it does to
\nlump together societies as diverse as animist Borneo, Shintoist
\nJapan and caste-riven India.<\/p>\n
Asia, after all, is a continent where Buddhism, Islam,
\nHinduism, Confucianism and Catholicism all have their
\nstrongholds, where there is an endless variety of customs and
\nreligious rites and practices.<\/p>\n
Asians even eat differently from each other; some with knives
\nand forks, others with chopsticks, and yet others with their
\nfingers.<\/p>\n
Yet the term \"Asian values\" was a handy political instrument
\nwhich allowed certain leaders to claim that the people of Asia
\nput common interests ahead of individualism, preferred consensus
\nto confrontation, and were loyal to the family above all.<\/p>\n
In addition, it was claimed, Asians were willing to work
\nharder than others and save more, in order to generate the huge
\npools of savings which were said to be a key to the region's
\nstunning economic growth.<\/p>\n
These traits had once been known in the West as the
\n\"Protestant work ethic,\" of course, but were expropriated by some
\nAsian leaders in an effort to refute those who argued that
\ndemocracy and individual rights were universal values just as
\napplicable in Asia as anywhere else.<\/p>\n
In contrast to the liberal West, with its high crime rates and
\nbroken families, it was argued that Asians were willing to give
\npriority to the overall good ahead of their individual desires
\nand accept without question the leadership of \"benevolent\"
\npatriarchs.<\/p>\n
Or so it was said -- not by ordinary citizens, but by people
\nlike Soeharto, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia and
\nthe representatives of other authoritarian regimes in Singapore,
\nMyanmar and China.<\/p>\n
That Indonesians have now used violence to force the ouster of
\ntheir president is a good indicator of how little validity the
\n\"Asian values\" theory really has.<\/p>\n
In the end it was always Soeharto, from Java, who decided
\neverything of importance in Indonesia. He ran his vast and
\ndiverse country as though it was one big family and he was the
\npatriarch, which left him at the mercy of those with whom he had
\nthe closest direct contact -- namely the members of his real
\nfamily.<\/p>\n
They had their own interests, though, and exploited their
\nproximity to the president to profit personally from his
\ndecisions and change those which did not suit them. And with his
\nfamily there to help him run things, Soeharto dismissed critics
\nwho said the country needed a functioning, independent legal
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
It was nonsense, of course, to try to run a country like a
\nfamily; it is simply too complicated, and those without the ear
\nof the patriarch lack any reliable means of being heard or
\nappealing decisions which hurt them.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, corruption, nepotism and arbitrariness were
\nthe order of the day under Soeharto. His form of government was
\nabove all aimed at legitimizing the authority of the president
\nand his circle at the expense of individual rights.<\/p>\n
It lasted so long because Soeharto was able to base his
\ncontrol on two pillars: the military, which he was extremely
\ncareful to keep on his side (as Chinese President Jiang Zemin
\nstill is), and a growing economy which allowed a steady
\nimprovement in living standards for most Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Yet, as is now apparent, Asia's undemocratic governments were
\nfar less responsible for their countries' once impressive
\neconomic growth than they liked to claim. Indeed, the favoritism
\nthey showered on the chosen few actually weakened their
\neconomies.<\/p>\n
The consequences, when they came, surprised Soeharto; once the
\nmasses discovered their strength, it took them less than two
\nweeks to topple a regime which had endured for more than three
\ndecades.<\/p>\n
And the demands of the Indonesian people have been identical
\nto those made in other countries: a real say in government,
\npublic debate of important issues, freedom of speech and an
\nindependent system of law.<\/p>\n
Are these \"universal values?\" Not that Asia's most aggressive
\ndefender of the alleged Asian variety, Mahathir, is already
\nfeeling the pressure as his people begin to ask the question more
\ninsistently.<\/p>\n
Many Malaysians already feel their aging patriarch has been
\nrunning their country too long, and even his deputy, Anwar
\nIbrahim, was forced to acknowledge after Soeharto's downfall that
\n\"A wave of creative destruction is inundating Asia.\"<\/p>\n
So is it time for Mahathir's resignation, as well?<\/p>\n
The march of time and events is also heading for Beijing. That
\nan economic crisis emboldened and enabled Indonesian students --
\nsupported by the middle class -- to successfully topple their
\ngovernment will not have gone unnoticed by the Chinese
\nleadership, or by other authoritarian regimes in the region.<\/p>\n
An ominous trend may have been announced in the recent Hong
\nKong elections where, despite every possible manipulation by its
\nloyalists, Beijing saw its local representatives rejected in
\nfavor of democratic forces.<\/p>\n
The lesson from Indonesia is ringing out a loud warning: if
\nauthoritarian governments refuse to change, the people will do
\nthe changing for them.<\/p>\n
Asia's authoritarian dominoes are all, sooner or later,
\ndestined to fall.<\/p>\n
Window: That Indonesians have now used violence to force the ouster
\nof their president is a good indicator of how little validity the
\n\"Asian values\" theory really has.<\/p>",
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