(long thread)
In 7 years of Twitter, I have not received as many negative comments as yesterday on my views re HK's status and democracy there. So I wanted to explain clearly my arguments.
In 7 years of Twitter, I have not received as many negative comments as yesterday on my views re HK's status and democracy there. So I wanted to explain clearly my arguments.
I will only mention, and leave out, the sheer hypocrisy of countries that never made any protestation at similar lack of democracy during the British rule. Hypocrisy is obvious, but it is not an argument.
Many well-meaning and smart people have an almost Pavlovian reflex when one mentions the word "democracy". They are in favor of it.
But while democracy is important, and indeed as Rawls considered it, a "primary good", it cannot be promoted without any reference to other values.
But while democracy is important, and indeed as Rawls considered it, a "primary good", it cannot be promoted without any reference to other values.
One would have expected, after the debacles of Iraq and Libya, that it should be clear. Both are now democracies of sorts. But in reality they are anarchies and in both cases "democracy-promotion" has led to 000 of deaths (half-a-million in Iraq alone).
Lives are valuable too.
Lives are valuable too.
Probably many people who now clamor for HK democracy wanted democracy in Libya as well but now when the country is in the throes of a civil war & anarchy they have lost all interest in it.
What are other values that one who cares about democracy has to consider in the case of HK?
First, that non-interference in internal affairs is the cornerstone of any rule-based international order. It is not ideal but only non-interference enables us to live in tolerable peace
First, that non-interference in internal affairs is the cornerstone of any rule-based international order. It is not ideal but only non-interference enables us to live in tolerable peace
Second, interference of the HK kind is especially pernicious b/c it implicitly denies sovereignty of CHN over its entire territory. Doing that to any country is likely to provoke a reaction.
Doing that to a global power (with a history of mistreatment by Western powers) and having seen that an identical approach was used to chip onto the Soviet Union and ultimately break it, is likely to be met with a response that might lead to another cold or hot war.
So promotion of democracy in HK (a value) has to be set against two other values: respect for international law and world peace and prosperity.
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