Australia tries to fathom the emerging Asia

Pathways to Asia, The Politics of Engagement Edited by Richard Robinson Allen & Unwin, NSW, 1996 Paperback, 270 pages A$24.95

MELBOURNE (JP): While a fascination with Asia in the Western world is not a new trend, it was only just over a decade ago that there was a shift in balance in books published in English- speaking countries.

The prevalence of books with an "orientalist" slant was gradually overtaken by those about economics and power. Asia, it seems, turned from an exotic and mysterious otherness yet to be conquered into a source of amazement. This development was regarded by some with incredulity, and by others with righteous indignation. For all observers, Asia is to be explored, studied, and decoded if necessary.

This occurred due to the looming economic dominance of newly industrialized countries (NICs) in Asia as established industrialized nations lose their grip on global economic growth.

Pathways to Asia, edited by Richard Robison, provides an overview of attempts in Australia and other industrialized countries to understand the developments in Asian NICs.

Interestingly, while the industrialized West tries to understand the success of Asian NICs, in the business field these attempts come down to the contest between the free market economists, or neo-classicists, and the institutional economists or the Keynesians.

They go back and forth over questions such as whether the state has a role in the nation's economy. Should the state intervene? If yes, to what degree? Or should the state just observe and let the market forces work to find the best balance.

Of course, it is not as simple as that. The fact these Asian economies are booming means they must have done something right. Australia has to seek successful engagement with Asia if it does not want to lose its leading edge, or worse, be left behind.

Maybe the answer is found in culture. Unlike Westerners, Asians eschew individual freedom and adhere to familial piety and value national cohesion. These virtues are continuously and copiously extolled by some Asian leaders, such as Lee Kwan Yew and Mahathir Muhammad, especially when drawing a contrast between these virtues and those of the West.

Is there really a line separating Eastern and Western values? Garry Rodan and Kevin Hewison in A clash of cultures or the convergence of political ideology? draw attention to an overlap of the two cultures. They believe there are more similarities between the Western conservatives and Asian leaders, including Lee and Mahathir, than between conservatives and liberals in the respective countries.

As a Western country situated in the region, the Australian tendency to lump different Asian countries as one "otherness" has proven to be a disadvantage. This discourages them from viewing each country as a specific entity with particular sets of values.

We have seen incidents where relationships between Australia and an Asian country were undermined for an extended period of time because of an offensive comment by an Australian leader. The "recalcitrant" incident involving Malaysia is a case in point.

The repercussions threw many in Australia into disarray. Businesses who had interest in Malaysia felt victimized as their contracts faced uncertainty. Diplomats tried to rectify the situation by explaining to their own unamused parliament how deep an insult the word was when translated into Malay, and to the Malaysians how inconsequential the word really was in English.

Peter Searle in the essayRecalcitrant or Realpolitik? indicates that while some cultural offense did occur, the Malaysian government took political advantage of the slip. Searle believes that charges of insensitivity were a useful ploy for Mahathir to keep Australia off balance and marginalized in the region as he sought to achieve his own vision of Asia's future through the EAEC.

Is democracy such a fluid concept that it means something in one culture and something else in another? Is it true, as some Asian leaders often claim, that democracy is relative to culture? Stephanie Lawson in Cultural relativism and democracy: political myths about 'Asia' and the 'West' underlines democracy after stripping it of cultural relativities.

She lists Sorenson's summary of some of the principles of democracy, including meaningful and extensive competition among individuals and organized groups (especially political parties) for all effective positions of government power, at regular intervals and excluding the use of force; a highly inclusive level of political participation in the selection of leaders and policies, at least through regular and fair elections, such that no major adult group is excluded; and a level of civil and political liberties, such as freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom to form and join organizations, which are sufficient to ensure the integrity of political competition and participation.

In the economic spheres, the chapters on analysis on sources of East Asian advantage by Linda Weiss, and on Australian policy and Northeast Asian economic growth by Trevor Matthews and John Ravenhill, provide food for thought for the free market and interventionist followers. They argue that there is still a role for the right government agencies in aiding economic growth and international competitiveness, with Matthews and Ravenhill citing successes in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Pathways to Asia was written mostly from the point of view of Australia as a Western democratic country. Yet it is also enlightening for readers outside that nation as it explores the social, political and economic processes of different countries in Asia, and seeks to understand their strengths and weaknesses.

-- Dewi Anggraeni