Democracy Assistance in Asia and the Role of China

Abstract

The promotion of democracy began with the urgent need to stave off the spread of communism after World War II. The imperative to prevent countries from faUing into the communist bloc had a significant impact on the geopolitical landscape into which the fledgling nations of Asia emerged after gaining their independence in the 1940s and onward. This geopolitical reality changed over time but the countries ofthe region were nonetheless caught between two competing political systems: democracy and autocracy. The emergence of democracies in countries that have made the transition from some form of authoritarianism, such as Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Mongolia, and the Phuippines, testifies to the success and value of democracy promotion. In other countries - Malaysia, Thauand, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh - the ebb and flow of democratization caUs for both optimism and support. There are yet others - Burma, North Korea, Laos, and Cambodia - that remain closed and isolated, and that demand outside assistance. Then there are cases such as China, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia that have emerged as resuient, semi-authoritarian regimes; they have developed economicaUy on par with their democratic neighbours but have not liberalized politically. While there is no uniform model for democratic development, the disparity in the level of democratic development and the close economic relations between democratic and semi-authoritarian and authoritarian neighbours underscores the unique challenges that the region presents for promoting democracy and defining an end-goal of democracy assistance in Asia.For decades following their independence, many Asian countries were recipients of foreign assistance. Assistance in many cases came in the form of development aid or, more commonly, direct financial and military support to the regimes. As a result, these countries transformed a great deal. It is important to point out, however, that the type of the assistance varied and changed substantially over time. Yet changes in the type of foreign assistance were slow in keeping pace with the transformative aspect of democratization from within. While financial and military support did rebuff communist encroachment, it had the effect of strengthening autocracies rather than promoting democracies in Asia.As the communist bloc fractured from within and China opened economically to the west, the threat of communist expansion receded. Political opposition simmering in Asian countries found willing advocates in the outside world. Information seeped through the cracks of state censorship - a tool used by many closed regimes for controlling information and public opinion. Regulations were put in place to limit the ability of the communists to organize but these blanketed all types of opposition to the regime. Reports about egregious human rights abuses and oppressive and corrupt rule reached the outside world, and the United States in particular, which was also under the influence of the winds of social change.As state control over the media weakened, dissenting voices found an audience, and calls for democracy in these countries were beginning to be heard not only by their countrymen but also abroad. These calls mobilized public opinion in the United States and elsewhere, which prompted politicians in the US congress to push for greater American support for democracy in the region. The pressure applied by external actors, particularly the United States, played a pivotal role in promoting popular dissent against some forms of autocratic rule in the region. Pressure from external actors forced the authorities to open public space for debate and to liberalize regulations against political opposition. Democracy assistance also helped shape the internal conditions that allowed reformers and democrats from within to push for change from a position of strength versus the ruling elites.DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCEDemocracy assistance is a set of foreign policy instruments exercised by both governmental and nongovernmental actors in the forms of monetary and technical support for strengthening democratic rule and norms. …