E. Rapid Economic Development and Regional Peace and Security

Economic development tends to bring about changes not only in the economy, but also in the society's social, cultural and political values and structures. By their nature changes are unsettling and destabilizing because they alter the status quo. Losers become instant enemies of change while prospective beneficiaries suspend their support until the benefits of change materialize. They cannot be expected to support the reforms enthusiastically and may even actively block them if the conditions would permit it.

Since domestic and external security tends to be borderless, the destabilizing consequences of rapid economic growth in various states in the region are likely to have external implications. Taiwanese democratization was a consequence, among others, of the rise of middle class intellectuals, professionals and new entrepreneurs which economic development made possible. Many of them no longer seek reunification with China, a sentiment Beijing is determined to stifle. While this is clearly a domestic issue to be settled between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, destabilizing actions such as those undertaken by the PLA in March 1996 to avert the election in Taiwan of a presidential candidate China perceives to be in favour of Taiwanese independence affect the peace and security of the region. The US deployment of two aircraft carrier battle groups to demonstrate its commitment to peaceful settlement of the reunification issue and to regional peace and security illustrates the great likelihood of the internationalization of an issue that is fundamentally domestic but with grave external and regional implications.

Even the internal political ferment taking place in Indonesia following the removal of Megawati Sukanoputri as head of the Democratic Party of Indonesia (PDI) can have regional implications. This ferment is made possible by the changes in Indonesian society brought about by rapid economic development. Should political instability ensue, Indonesia's ability to play a credible and influential regional role could be eroded, especially as it has been able to lead ASEAN through a number of challenges, such as during the Cambodian crisis, and has also assisted in the internal Philippine problem of Muslim secessionism. ASEAN capacity to play a credible regional role in promoting regional peace and security could also suffer a decline.

Economic success has also made Asian leaders assertive and self-confident in dealing with issues like human rights and democracy. Western demand for full human rights implementation and the inclusion of a social clause in international economic agreements and organizations like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are opposed by the rapidly growing economies in Asia. They view these demands as attempts on the part of the West, including those in the Asia Pacific, to undermine their comparative economic advantage in the form of cheap labour costs. These differences have posed some difficulties in their bilateral relations with China, Viet Nam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Because security is viewed as comprehensive in East Asia, the undermining of economic growth is seen as an important security challenge in these countries.

The debate has also distanced Asian countries espousing these so-called "Asian values" from their close political and economic partners in the West and created dysfunctional rhetoric which in the end is counterproductive and masks the true character of the subject under debate as well as the reasons behind the positions taken by Asian and Western leaders on the matter. It has also created foreign policy problems for countries that are in Asia, such as the Philippines, but whose perspectives on the issue are closer to those of the so-called West.12

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 849