Editorial: Lee's legacy will live on

As President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) wound up his "farewell tour" yesterday, the final countdown has begun on the 12-year long "Lee Teng-hui era." Much has already been written on his multifaceted legacy, and much more will be written in the months and years to come. Indeed, it is by no means ironic that he intends to establish a presidential library after his retirement (although some may quibble that it is rather too obviously aping the American precedent).

Naturally, in all of his public statements, Lee is trying to stamp his own interpretation of what he will be remembered for. Yesterday, he emphasized that the upcoming transfer proves that Taiwan has made a clean break with "Asian values."

What Lee referred to, however, is the political assertion made by "Asian values" exponents that Asian people are naturally deferential. The argument was that Asians somehow naturally prefer strong leaders, who will tell them what to do. This reasoning was then used to justify authoritarianism, whether "soft" or "hard."

By this criterion, Lee's assertion rings strongly true. During his presidency, Taiwan has moved decisively away from the era of "big man" governance. Of course, as Taiwan's society democratized, and genuine popular participation increased, Lee himself remained on top of the system. Thus the process will only be complete when Lee hands over the seals of authority to Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Chen, by virtue of age and political circumstance, cannot possibly play the role of traditional Asian ruler, and he has little incentive to try to do so.

However, the "Asian values" thesis also contained two other major tenets. First, Asians were asserted to be communalistic, giving priority to the interest of the group over individual rights. The purpose of this reasoning was to counter the discourse of universal human rights, in order to provide excuses for the low level of human rights protection found in most Asian countries. In this area, Lee's contributions are also clear. Since the end of martial law, in addition to the right to political participation, Taiwan's people have dramatically increased many of the key rights that the Asian values enthusiasts said were most unsuited to Asian cultures, such as freedom of expression.

This is not to say that Taiwan is free of human rights abuses. Problems in the judicial system remain serious, and racial and sexual discrimination are still common. What Lee has accomplished is to break the conceptual barrier that individual rights are not important. He leaves to his successors the work of fully putting these rights into practice.

Second, "Asian values" was often used to explain the success of Asian capitalism. In particular, Confucian ethics of loyalty and hard work were adduced as critical elements in the "East Asian miracle." This argument was mortally wounded by the 1997 financial crisis, which struck hardest at those countries where the dark side of "Asian capitalism" -- cronyism -- was rampant. Indeed, the idea of cronyism has to a large extent filled the conceptual space formerly occupied by "Asian values."

On this score, Lee's record is much more mixed. As, we have seen from the recent scandals at Taiwan Pineapple, Chung Shing Bank, and now with Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), cronyism has thrived in Taiwan, and Lee's KMT has been at the center of much of it. Although Taiwan rode out the last financial crisis with aplomb, this aspect of Lee's legacy unfortunately cannot be allowed to continue.