Meanwhile, the Western media openly air the views of Singaporean officials, who demand a right of unedited reply from publications that circulate in Singapore. For example, when it abbreviated a wordy statement from the Singaporean government, The Economist found its circulation severely curtailed.
Mahbubani relies on a dubious cause?and?effect connection between the material success of Asian economies and the authoritarian repression that may have accompanied that success. His arguments insist that restraints on individual freedom are necessary for economic progress. Meanwhile the West, having lost its moral compass due to an irrepressible fixation on individual rights, suffers low economic performance. This viewpoint implies the unimaginative assumption that material gratification is the only or most worthy goal of humankind. In any event, his arguments overlook how the economic life cycle partly explains the weak growth in the West. That the United States and Europe compare unfavorably with the vibrancy of nascent East Asian economies is unsurprising. Eventually the tiger economies too shall be tamed.
Contrary to Mahbubani's claims that Asian values contribute to political stability and deter open aggression, East Asia has just as many unsettled border disputes, outrages against humanity, and conflicting geopolitical claims as Europe. Perceptions to the contrary are an outgrowth of the muted press of East Asia and the openness of the media in most parts of Europe.
While the carnage in Chechnya is televised across the globe, there was little coverage of the Dili massacre in Indonesia and no on?site reporting of human rights outrages in Myanmar. In 1994, the lack of concerted action on or criticism of immense, smoke?spreading forest fires in Indonesia reflected another Asian value. So as not to embarrass the Indonesian authorities, neighboring governments were disinclined to offer aid or criticize the handling of the fires. Saving face was more important than saving lives or protecting the environment.
In contrasting the exclusion of East and Central European nations from the institutions of Western Europe versus the inclusiveness of Asian economic relations, Mahbubani is comparing apples and oranges. While establishing free trade between all countries of Europe is desirable, the EU involves a different set of commitments than, for example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The European Union requires acceptance of shared values, political commitments, and pressure from other members. If fires in the Black Forest were causing regional pollution, France would certainly have assisted Germany or insisted on German action. Moreover, in purely economic matters, members of the EU allow trade with Eastern and Central Europe with few more restrictions than asean members impose on Vietnam or Myanmar.
At present, promoters and antagonists of an Asian model are engaged in a dialogue of the deaf. While much about Asian values should be emulated, much should be challenged. An appropriate method of communication between East and West needs to be discovered, and outlining the differences is a first step.
In collectivist Asian regimes, those wielding political power set rules that the polity must unquestioningly accept. Individualist Western regimes attempt to apply reason to resolve private and social interests. Consequently, cultures based on individualism tend to have an outspoken citizenry, while collectivist cultures rely on reserved understatement.
While the great Western political contribution is democracy, the great contribution of the East is bureaucracy. Whereas liberalism and individual freedom found fertile ground in the West, Asian institutions grew along conservative and collectivist lines. So the West evolved liberal capitalism, and Asia has tilted toward authoritarian capitalism. That the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan are moving toward multiparty politics is encouraging. However, Myanmar, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam practice authoritarian capitalism that keeps ruling parties in power by preserving economic growth. The cynical suggestion that exclusively Asian values explain economic success and politically opportunistic assertions that individual freedom and pluralistic democracy are alien concepts deflect liberalizing institutions that might weaken the authoritarian rulers' grip on power. Those rulers benefit from praising respect for authority as a component of Confucianism or other so?called Asian values.
These individualist and collectivist tendencies also affect business activity. Individualist cultures encourage and reward innovation by free?spirited entrepreneurs who are as likely to challenge the political status quo as to upset market arrangements. Most Asian economies, however, have either attempted autarky or have relied upon imitation, requiring access to open markets of more advanced economies. But the considerable success of many so?called miracle economies may not last. Unless they produce homegrown entrepreneurs and technological change, the technological gap will widen as innovators seek greater political and economic freedom outside the region.
East Asian authoritarian capitalist regimes cannot last forever. Individual choice will sweep aside archaic institutions. Despots, autocrats, and their dynastic heirs are mortal, and modernization stemming from economic prosperity will undermine their authority.
Global economic progress depends on free trade. Similarly, cultural progress requires an open competition among political and cultural institutions. Asian authoritarian regimes are attempting to impose cultural protectionism to isolate their communities from infectious liberalizing Western influences. By restricting information, cultural protectionism deals a double blow to emerging economies. Just as trade protection inhibits economic growth, so cultural protection inhibits cultural progress. But cultural protectionism will also retard the formation of an information?based economy and curtail economic growth. Unless rulers of Asian regimes take note of this process, the notion of the much?heralded Pacific century may be a stillborn myth.
(1) "Smoke over Parts of Asia Obscures Some Profound Concerns," International Herald Tribune, Oct. 7, 1994.