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"Asian values" myth explodes
Dominic Lau
HONG KONG, January 21: Hong Kong's leading democracy advocate Martin Lee said on Wednesday the region's financial chaos exploded the myth of `Asian values' and that financial crises struck hardest in countries lacking democracy.Lee, leader of the territory's popular Democratic Party,made the remarks after talks with visiting British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. ``I told him that I do see a silver lining out of all these dark clouds," Lee told reporters. "That's the explosion of the myth of so-called `Asian Values', which is that, we, Asians, are somewhat different from the Westerners." Lee said the `Asian values' idea was that human rights were unimportant, that only the economy, investments and profits mattered - even where a country was saddled with a dictatorship, `because it is what Asian values is all about." The pro-democracy campaigner said people had learned from the turmoil that undemocratic states were a bad investment bet. ``People now see that without democratically constituted government,which can guarantee openness and transparency, (you) will simply not have the right environment for investments," he said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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