Die Kontroverse über Menschenrechte, Demokratie und Entwicklung zwischen den Regierungen des Westens, Chinas und der ASEAN-Staaten

Abstract

In the wake of the events of 1989, political relations are undergoing profound changes in Asia, especially in East and South-East Asia. Tensions over trade and new security issues have grown. The new controversy over respect for human rights is increasingly influencing - and souring - relations between China, ASEAN, the United States and the European Union. The main arguments advanced by ASEAN and the Chinese governments before, during and after the Vienna UN Conference on Human Rights centre on different cultural traditions from the West, such as the priority of societal interests over individual claims to human rights, and political stability as a requisite condition for rapid economic development, usually at the cost of social justice, political participation and human rights. The article questions some of these core arguments, stressing that these governments consider the denial of full human rights as the social price to be paid in order to realize a model of economic growth selected by an elite.