The vice president of Taiwan, Lu Hsiu-lien, sees Asia confronting challenges like severe acute respiratory syndrome and globalization with little immediate prospect of integration on the European model. But she proposed to the Democratic Pacific Assembly, meeting recently in Taipei, a vision of "soft" power based on cooperation among the maritime states of the Pacific. Excerpts from Lu's address:
Pacific countries enjoy exceptional advantages, such as rich natural resources, which help to accelerate comprehensive national power. But this rapid growth of national power has caused problems that threaten the area's development. For instance, increases in population and industrial pollution have resulted in the gradual withering of Pacific fisheries resources and huge decreases in many coastal species. Global warming and the greenhouse effect threaten the survival of coastal cities and countries adjacent to the sea. Excessive logging of forests has degraded water supplies and caused other negative environmental effects. To resolve these problems, Pacific countries need to coordinate their efforts and cooperate with one another, integrating their resources and information to establish a cooperative mechanism that reflects maritime culture, implements the values of democracy, and ensures the survival and development of the people of the Pacific region.
Although most of the countries in the Pacific region have completed democratization, a few countries are still not on track. Moreover, the lack of experience and mechanisms for effective collaboration isolates these areas and even creates hidden dangers in an environment full of opportunities. As residents of the Pacific area, the most important magnetic arena of human life, we should welcome this coming era of the Pacific by using the successful experiences of democratic nations as our foundation to promote and strengthen democracy actively while emphasizing Pacific cultures and marine technology. Only by replacing the theft and invasion of "hard" hegemony with the "soft" philosophy of cooperation and sharing can we open a road that will take us away from the military confrontations and competitiveness among the superpowers of the past and toward sustainable development for the Pacific.
Regional integration is a product of the development of human civilization, and many successful examples of such integration already exist to enlighten us. At present, 15 advanced democratic countries in Western Europe have successfully organized themselves into the European Union. In a few years, another 13 nations in Eastern and Southern Europe will join the Union, making it the most powerful political and economic landscape in the world. Other regional coalitions in the Americas and Southeast Asia include the Organization of American States, the System of Integration of Central America, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A large number of African nations announced on July 9, 2002, the formation of the African Union to develop regional partnerships.
If Europe, America, and Africa can all achieve regional integration, why can't Asia? One of the main reasons is that of the 39 countries in Asia, 15 are not yet democratic. Another reason is that Asia is home to four of the world's five communist countries: China, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. In May 2003, the famous Indian geopolitical scholar Madhav Nalapat urged Asian democracies and territories to rally behind India and the United States to establish an Asian version of NATO in order to counter terrorist activities and organizations. However, such an alliance would almost certainly exclude authoritarian and theocratic states such as China and Pakistan. Thus, it can clearly be seen that democracy and peace are a cause and effect of each other.
From Europe's experience, integration must spring from the desire to avoid war, it must be accomplished in a non-forcible manner, it should begin with economic and humanitarian exchanges, and it should be based on the principle of equal sovereignty. From these four characteristics, it is obvious that Asian democracies have not yet achieved a set standard for developing common humanitarian values. Asia is still far from being able to establish any sort of union. But if we look to the East and adopt the soft philosophy of maritime cultures as a central focus, we can link the democratic nations of the Pacific Rim to establish a cooperative mechanism for democracy and peace. Together we can create a new human civilization for the 21st century that is not only concrete and feasible but also complete and beautiful.
In Taiwan, we recognize the 21st century as a new epoch for developing maritime civilization. Building a maritime nation is our new blueprint for national development. Taiwan will take a strategic approach and focus on the ocean. The development objective of Taiwan's maritime strategy in the 21st century is to set Taiwan at the center and expand outward toward the ocean in all directions. Directed by a soft strategy of democracy, peace, and prosperity, we will work together with all Pacific democracies in observance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to preserve our common maritime interests effectively and to ensure the sustainable development of this region.
With our soft oceanic strategy as a foundation, Taiwan is willing to serve as a facilitator in helping to build a new Pacific civilization in this magnetic arena of life during the 21st century, and establish soft national power as a universal value of the region. We are committed to working in harmony to transform the Pacific Ocean into a "soft" ocean of sustainable development, rather than an acrimonious battlefield of competing forces.
We say that tall buildings start from the ground up. World peace may be an ideal, but the Democratic Pacific Union embodies the common will of the democratic nations of the Pacific. I see the people of Taiwan and the people of the region participating in this endeavor together.
"Soft" power represents a new way of thinking for human civilization in the 21st century. It can be realized and developed through the three indicators of democracy, peace, and prosperity.
Democracy is a universal value in modern societies. Mature forms of democracy require a certain level of social and economic development. They require time. They require political leadership that is noble and responsible. To evaluate a nation's democratization, one may examine the following indicators: first, the principle of democracy; second, the principle of the rule of law; third, practice of a multiparty system; fourth, protection of human rights; fifth, nationalization of military forces; sixth, the intentions of the leaders. Among these, the most basic index of democratization is whether the people are able to choose their leaders and decide the future of the nation in a "one person, one vote" political process.
Peace has always been a desire of humanity, though it has been hard to realize. In the past, the concept of peace existed only in political ideologies and religious beliefs and not as an international norm. It was only in the 1970s, with the rise of the third-generation human rights movement, that the idea of peace as a human right began to emerge. In 1977, the United Nations formally advocated the concept of "the right to peace." In 1984, the General Assembly approved the Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace, affirming that "the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to peace" and declaring that the "preservation of the right of peoples to peace and its promotion and implementation constitute a fundamental obligation of each state." Since then, peace has been a fundamental right.
But the five communist nations and dozens of irrational anti-democratic countries pose threats to peace. Since the attacks of 2001 in the United States, fighting terrorism has become the core of American national strategy. Under this influence, the international security environment has entered a transitional period as new strategies replace old. In this new security environment, we see calm coexisting with tension; cooperation interweaving with competition; global reduction in arms developing alongside regional military expansion; and superpowers butting heads with regional hegemons. Science and technology, and competition among nations, further aggravate conflicts over resources, in particular disputes over marine resources. The effect of these interlocking factors is an infusion of uncertainty into the new security environment and also an intensifying of competition among nations for these marine resources.
The era of globalization has dawned. Rapid development of global communication and mass transportation systems has deepened the impact on places far away. This phenomenon operates on numerous levels: political, economic, social, and cultural. Such developments bring new risks and dangers. Globalization widens the gap between powerful and weak nations, as well as the disparity between the rich and the poor, creating new forms of inequity and injustice. We must confront these issues seriously.
At the end of last year, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) erupted in China and spread quickly to 33 nations. SARS is a unique epidemic both in terms of globalization and of anti-globalization. SARS spread quickly because of the close interaction among the world's peoples as a result of globalization. Taiwan was greatly affected. We seemed suddenly to be fighting a quasi-biochemical war. People did not know where to hide. We lost 84 precious lives to SARS. Fortunately, Taiwan is a highly democratic and efficient nation and, under the joint efforts of the government and people, the threat of SARS was defeated in just two months.
Lying midway between Northeast and Southeast Asia, Taiwan controls the Taiwan Strait, through which 400 international ships sail and over which 350 international aircraft fly every day. Over the past half-century, the people of Taiwan have created three miracles: an economic miracle, a democratic miracle, and a miracle of peace. The key element in the creation of these three miracles was human resources, and the motivating force was the "soft" power of the country. This soft power, which has guided Taiwan's social, economic, and political development, is built upon a lofty yet appealing system of ethics and philosophy. Soft power includes human rights, democracy, peace, love, and high technology. These are the achievements of the Taiwanese people step by step in concerted effort over the past 50 years. These five national achievements differ from the rigid strengths of the traditional structures of economic and military domination. These soft powers contain huge potential for creativity, not for destruction. They are beneficial to all and can be generously shared. They give no cause for combat. There is no question of the strong preying on the weak.
Taiwan's miracles have not only brought its people democracy and prosperity but have also made an enormous contribution to the international community. In Asia, Taiwan has assisted in the defense against communism and blocked its spread, while in the Americas it has watched over the backyard of the United States and eased its worries. If Taiwan had not been here to resist Chinese communism for the past 50 years, Asia might have fallen completely under communist rule. And because 14 neighbors of America in the Caribbean and Central America have chosen to be Taiwan's allies and reject the communist Chinese regime, the world superpower, the United States, has been saved from trouble at home. It was not just that the United States came to Taiwan's defense; Taiwan has helped to defend the free world. Over the past five decades, we have encountered challenges, but we have silently developed our soft powers through sheer will and integrity. This has been a very special and precious means of survival and development.
In the jungle, the strong feed on the weak. In zoos, lions, tigers, and leopards, locked in cages, share the blue sky and white clouds with rabbits and birds. Human civilization has long rejected the law of the jungle. Rigid national strengths are no longer a magic weapon for creating prosperity. Only the soft philosophy of peace, love, cooperation, and sharing can stand as universal values of the 21st century. Only by deepening democracy can peace be enhanced; and only democracy and peace can ensure prosperity and progress. The 21st century is the century of the Pacific. Soft civilization can infuse the Pacific with vitality and dynamic appeal.