Asian values

The term Asian values is a political ideology that arose in the 1990s, which defined elements of society, culture, and history common to the nations of Southeast Asia and East Asia. It aimed to use commonalities – for example, the principles of collectivism or communitarianism – to unify people for their economic and social good and to create a pan-Asian identity. This contrasted with perceived European ideals of the universal rights of man. The concept was advocated by Mahathir Mohamad (Prime Minister of Malaysia, 1981–2003, 2018–present), Lee Kuan Yew (Prime Minister of Singapore, 1959–1990) and Shinzo Abe (Prime Minister of Japan, 2012–present) and as well as other Asian leaders. The popularity of the concept slightly waned after the 1997 Asian financial crisis when it became evident that Asia lacked any coherent regional institutional mechanism to deal with the crisis.

Definition 
Various definitions of Asian values have been put forth. Generally, the phrase alludes to influences by Confucianism – in particular, filial piety or loyalty towards the family, corporation, and nation; the forgoing of personal freedom for the sake of society's stability and prosperity; the pursuit of academic and technological excellence; and, a strong work ethic together with thrift.

Proponents of so-called "Asian values", who tend to support authoritarian governments, claim these values are more appropriate for the region than Western democracy with its emphasis on individual freedoms.

"Asian values" were codified and promoted in the Bangkok Declaration of 1993, which re-emphasized the principles of sovereignty, self-determination, and non-interference in civil and political rights. They included:
Preference for social harmony;
Concern with socio-economic prosperity and the collective well-being of the community;
Loyalty and respect towards figures of authority;
Preference for collectivism and communitarianism.

History 
Historically, there has been no shared "Asian" identity, and the concept of unified geographical regional identity at the time of its popularity in the 20th century was not strictly limited to Asia. Asian values gained popularity in the People's Republic of China, Malaysia (under Mahathir Mohamad), Singapore (under Lee Kuan Yew), Indonesia and in Japan (perhaps as early as the pre World War II era). In the West, the study of Asian values was seen as a way to understand Asia and foster a closer relationship with the region.

Proponents in Malaysia and Singapore claim the concept helped reconcile Islam, Confucianism and Hinduism and was unifying because it was different to the philosophy of the West, though the liberal nature of Hinduism evidently contradicts it. Lee maintained that, more than economics or politics, a nation's culture would determine its fate. 
In Japan, a concept of "Ideals of the East" was embraced in some nationalist circles because it challenged the West and also because it offered the possibility of Japanese leadership in a new Asia. 
Some attribute the economic success of East and Southeast Asian nations in the 1960s to 1980s to  "Asian values"; a third-way, Asian political model that was an alternative to totalitarianism and liberal democracy.

"Asian values" was also evident in the planning of the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

The popularity of the concept did not persist. Some speculate it might have contributed to the religious, social, cultural and economic changes occurring in Asia in that time; for example, the Asian financial crisis and the collapse of the Suharto regime in Indonesia may have been successfully counteracted by liberal democracy. The absence of India, with it's towering civilizational sweep over most of Asia, also made sure it didn't gain currency, since the concept lacked features of Indic culture solidly imprinted on most of Asia.  

In 2006, Jusuf Kalla, the vice-president of Indonesia, linked Asian values with the proposed East Asian Free Trade Agreement and the East Asian Community arising from the East Asia Summit. He partly defended Asian values by placing emphasis on co-operation over competition.

"Asian values" continues to be discussed in academe with reference to the question of the universality of human rights (as opposed to a position of cultural relativism).

The authors of a study published in 2015 claimed that rice versus wheat agriculture explain differences in analytic thinking, "implicit individualism" and innovation between various Chinese provinces. Compared to wheat farming, rice farming is a labor-intensive practice that requires cooperation among many people. However, the results of the study are controversial due to very small sample sizes for some units of analysis (some samples were as small as fewer than ten individuals), questionable measurement instruments and model misspecification. Using an improved measure of individualism-collectivism, the authors of a replication study found that the conclusion of the 2015 article claiming to show evidence for the relationship between wheat versus rice farming was the result of faulty methodology .

Criticism 
A number of criticisms of Asian values have been made. Lung Ying-tai, a Taiwanese social and political critic, supported by Kim Dae Jung (former President of South Korea) and Lee Teng-hui (former President of Taiwan), argues that "Asian values" is doublespeak for suppressing universal values such as freedom of speech and human rights. 

However, a common countercriticism of the concept of Asian values is the perceived success of many Asian quasi-democratic societies such as the tiger economies of Taiwan, which was ruled under martial law from 1949 to 1987, Hong Kong under One country, two systems, Singapore, which has been ruled by the People's Action Party since independence and Japan's economic miracle under the 1955 System.

See also 

Golden straitjacket
Guided democracy
Liberal democracy
Nihonjinron
Pan-Asianism
Sinosphere
Traditionalism 
Europeanism
National conservatism
Human rights in Asia
Human rights in Malaysia
Human rights in Singapore
Human rights in Japan

References

Sources 
Loh kok Wah F. and Khoo Boo T. "Democracy in Malaysia: Discourses and Practices" Curzon Press, Richmond Surrey, 2002.
Subramaniam S. "The Asian Values Debate: Implications for the Spread of Liberal Democracy" Asian Affairs. March 2000.
Ankerl G. "Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western" INUPRESS, Geneva, 2002

External links 
Sen A. Human Rights and Asian Values: What Lee Kuan Yew and Le Peng don't understand about Asia 
Milner A. What's Happened to Asian Values?

Category:Political theories
Category:Asian studies
Category:Political ideologies
Category:Pan-Asianism