Far Eastern Economoc Review Editorial, April 30, 1998

Wei Jingsheng knows a fellow traveller when he sees one. In scarcely two weeks' time, China's most prominent dissident will be in Washington to address a May 11 Vietnam Human Rights Day rally that will also feature Dr. Sein Winn of Burma and two Nobel laureates. The choice of date is no accident: It was on this day in 1990 that Dr. Nguyen Dan Que founded the Non-Violent Movement for Human Rights in Ho Chi Minh City and issued a manifesto expressing the group's peaceful and democratic purposes. One month later he was arrested and clapped into prison. The rally is to remind the world that Vietnam remains a nasty place for people like Dr. Que.

Nearly a year ago, Madeleine Albright pressed unsuccessfully for Dr. Que's release, along with two fellow democrats: Doan Viet Hoat, a professor, and Thich Quang Do, Secretary-general of the United Buddhist Church. But Mr. Wei's appearance on Dr. Que's behalf suggests a new wrinkle. Back when Ho Chi Minh was travelling the world to rally support for the fight against the French, communism thought of itself as an international brotherhood whose real interests did not stop at national boundaries. Yet at the dawn of the 21st century it is the communist nations--North Korea, Vietnam and China--who rank among the region's most narrow and xenophobic, as jealous of their prerogatives as any colonial power. In contrast, the internationalist pressure is coming from the trade and human-rights camps. Now, we concede that all too many of those pushing for the latter think the way to do it is to restrict the former. This, however, is a question of means, not ends. Indeed, we continue to believe that though government-to-government pressure a la Secretary Albright has its place, markets have historically proved a more potent tonic--especially if the goal is inducing a long-term change in the socio-political landscape (such as the transformation of Taiwan) as opposed to extracting a short-term concession (e.g., this month's release of dissident Wang Dan).

Already this is creating real commonalities of region-wide interests. Just as Asia's businessmen have long since recognized that their own prosperity increasingly depends on region-wide improvements, human-rights proponents appreciate the cause of freedom is mutually reinforcing, whether it involves a Dr. Que in Vietnam, a Wang Dan in China or an Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. This may not sound like much, but the cooperation and clarity it has inspired among Asia's business and human-rights communities stand in stark contrast to the mostly empty gestures of government-led Asian groupings from Apec to Asean.

No one expects, of course, that Mr. Wei's appearance on Dr. Que's behalf is likely to persuade Vietnam to reconsider. But the symbolism of China's most popular democrat making common cause with his Vietnamese counterparts is hard to escape. Uncle Ho, a prisoner once himself, would not have dismissed it lightly.