The anti-democrats of Hong Kong are rubbing their hands with glee to see the problems that democracies in Asia are having. This includes the military coup in Thailand, scandal and corruption in the Philippines, and the president and first lady of Taiwan accused of enriching themselves.
Taiwanese First Lady Wu Shu-chen was indicted on corruption charges on Friday and many have accused her husband, President Chen Shui-bian, of being involved. As president, he cannot be prosecuted. All this is sure to send these anti-democrats scrambling to pen more articles that say: 'You see, we told you that democracy is not a good system. Why do you keep asking for it?'
Why do Hongkongers still want democracy, they ask: just look at the problems that can afflict democracies. And they arise not just in Taiwan. You can see problems with democracies everywhere: they hold back economic development; they result in corruption. And so the accusations continue.
Well, let's look at Taiwan, both now that it is a democracy and before. Are things worse than they were during the Chiang Kai-shek era? Its Taiwan Garrison Command - a secret police and state security body - is gone. The government no longer has the right to lock people up and throw away the key. Journalists, scholars and political activists no longer simply disappear into prison, never to be heard from again.
And was corruption unknown in those days? Far from it. Even now, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party is trying to force the Kuomintang to account for the assets it controlled during its decades in power.
The Kuomintang thought it would never lose power, and did not separate party assets and state property.
