Asians Must Do More to Promote Democracy

By Ronald Meinardus

Promoting democracy has become an important facet in the foreign policy of most Western governments. Myriad of organizations from North America and Europe operate in various parts of the world with the common objective of advancing democratic governance.

While their programs and strategies may differ, the democracy assistance foundations -- as they are commonly called -- have one point in common: They are driven by the belief that promoting democracy is also essentially promoting peace. This conviction is founded on the empirical fact that democracies don't go to war with one another: Thus, a democratic world is also a more peaceful world.

Life has not become easier for international democracy assistance foundations with the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which Washington says aims at bringing democracy to that land and the region at large. It is too early to judge whether this plan will succeed or not. On the other hand, most observers agree that so far the occupation has not strengthened the democratic forces in the Middle East but, on the contrary, it has driven many Muslims into the folds of extremism.

Beyond what is happening in and around Iraq, the question of how to spread democracy to authoritarian societies remains crucial in international relations. Fortunately, the wind of democratic change has swept across many parts of the world in the past two decades. Still, some dark spots of suppression and tyranny remain.

Recently, I attended a workshop in Taipei that dealt with the question what could be done to strengthen and coordinate the efforts of promoting democracy in Asia. I have attended numerous such discussions in the past. But this session in the Taiwanese capital was an exception. As far as I can recall this was the first time the hosting organization was Asian, and so were the majority of the participating democratic activists and politicians. The host was the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

This organization -- the first democracy assistance foundation in the Asian continent - was established just over a year ago with the declared objective to study and promote democracy both at home and abroad. It follows in the footsteps of the European and North American political foundations, which the Taiwanese say they are trying to emulate.

The eagerness of the Taiwanese government to set up such an institute in this part of the world is not coincidental. For many Taiwanese, democracy is more than a system of government. For them, democracy has become a unifying element and a source of strength in the confrontation with the Chinese mainland. "Taiwan is the first democracy in Chinese history," says Jou Yicheng of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. "We want to serve as a model and make the point that democracy and Chinese culture are compatible."

Democratic rule has played -- and continues to play -- an important role in what one may term Taiwanese "nation-building." Put differently, the growing desire for independence and self-determination in Taiwan would be far less pronounced if democratic rule would prevail on the Chinese mainland.

Several of the individuals behind the creation of the Taiwanese democracy assistance programs have been democratic activists in the years of authoritarian rule in their own country. Today, they say that helping others struggling for their political rights is a moral obligation, and supporting democratic movements abroad also makes sense politically. As Taiwan remains isolated diplomatically in many countries, giving assistance to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working for democracy and human rights is an appealing alternative strategy.

"Our international status is often controversial, and when we want to contact foreign countries we often run into obstacles," says Dr. Michael Kau, the founding president of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and Taipei's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. "On the other hand", Kau adds, "because our Foundation is running as an NGO and works with other NGOs, this has an advantage, because we can claim we are not a government agency."

While Taiwan is moving ahead with its democracy promotion programs, other Asian countries are lagging behind. In Japan, the richest country in the region, discussions aimed at setting up democracy assistance projects have been going on for several years. But so far, these have had no tangible results. Kazuo Inoue, a Member of the Japanese House of Representative, and one of the driving forces behind many initiatives, says that the lack of progress has mainly two reasons.

First, Inoue argues, civil society and the non-governmental sector are not as strong in Japan as in other countries.

Second, the initiatives to set up a democracy assistance organization are not supported by the bureaucracy. "The bureaucrats," Inoue says, "are very strong in Japan, and it takes time to get such things done."

While the lawmaker from Tokyo remains optimistic that his country will sooner or later come up with its own democracy assistance programs for the Asian region, South Korea, which used to pursue outward-reaching democracy initiatives has actually fallen back. Former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung was not only a champion of democracy and human rights in his own country, he also promoted a democratic agenda internationally setting up the "Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific" and pushing for independence of East Timor and democracy in Burma.

When Kim Dae-jung received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000, this international commitment was explicitly mentioned by the awarding committee. Unfortunately, Kim's successor Roh Moo-hyun has not shown the same dedication to promoting democracy outside the shores of the Korean peninsula.

With the exception of the Taiwanese contribution, democracy assistance in Asia therefore remains very much an exclusive domain of outside-regional players from the West. For many Asian democrats this is unsatisfactory and not compatible with the economic advances and democratic consolidation in many parts of the region.

"I think it is time for Asians to do more about democratization in this part of the world", says Dr. Chee Soon-juan, the leader of the Singaporean opposition who has been harassed by the authoritarian rulers of his country for most of his political life. Thus far, only the Taiwanese have heeded Chee's and other democratic activists' call for more Asian involvement and democratic solidarity.

Dr. Ronald Meinardus was the former Resident Representative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in the Philippines and will leave Manila late September for a new posting in the Middle East. He writes a blog at www.myliberaltimes.com