Asian Values - Expert: Asian values should have a place in a globalized world

World
Europe

Editor's note: The editorial piece is written based on an episode of CGTN's program Asia Today.

Asian values are a political ideology started in 1990s, which defined elements of society, culture and history common to the nations of Southeast and East Asia. They aimed to create a united, wealthy and peaceful Asia through economic and cultural cooperation.The concept was advocated by several Asian leaders.

Asian values have been extolled for their contribution to the Asian economic miracle. They are shared by the dozen Asian countries and 2.7 billion people in the region.

Luo Yongkun, associate professor at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, views Asian values as the driving force behind Asia's economic miracles over the past 40 years and the reason behind regional cohesion.

"We can say the Asian values made great impacts on the development of the region," Luo told CGTN.

In the case of Malaysia, Luo points out that it is the Asian values that help Malaysia to recognize its identity of being an Asian country and make it prioritize its ties with the Asian neighbors.

04:12

"We can see since 1982, Malaysia has developed a very healthy and close relationship with China, Japan and South Korea," Luo told CGTN.

According to Luo, Malaysia reaped enormous benefits from the friendship with its neighbors. Economic cooperation is the most notable achievement they have developed over the past four decades. Malaysia's healthy economy is a result of Asia's rapid economic development.

Luo asserts that Malaysia will continue to look to the East rather than the West, because a good relationship with its neighbors is the cornerstone of the country's sustainable development. He also indicated that Malay-US relations are getting worse, because "they have different views and values in many issues like Islamic issues, anti-terrorism issues, and also the issues in the Middle East."

Luo not only attributes Malaysia's economic development to Asian values, but also regards the ideology as a solution to solve global disputes. In his opinion, Asian values are the greatest benefits to both economy and politics.

"If we look back at the financial crisis in 2008, then we will understand why Asian countries can deal with it well, because they share Asian values," Luo told CGTN.

A Malay pupil appreciates Chinese culture in Shijiazhuang, China, June 21, 2018. /VCG Photo

As Luo notes, the core of Asian values are mutual respect and mutual help. Asian values encourage countries to help each other, especially when they face problems. That's the reason why Asian countries took different actions in response to the financial crisis and not only survived but thrived.

Luo also views Asian values as the solution to global disputes.

"If we look back to history in 1950, then we will find that Asian countries like China, India, and Myanmar put forward the idea of the five principles of peaceful coexistence. These are principles based on the Asian values, the Asian way," Luo noted.

Asian values should be used in the international politics to deal with disputes and push forward the peace, stability and prosperity not only in the Asian region, but also on the global stage.

"Asian values lead to regional peace, as they emphasize the respect of sovereignty, independence of each other, respect of comfortable needs of each other, which are very important for the Asian development," Luo added.

Asian values should have a place in a globalized world, he said.