Mr. Wei Jingsheng, perhaps the most prominent Chinese dissident outside China, was prevented from entering Japan on June 2. Wei had intended on speaking at an event commemorating the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4. Instead, he was held by authorities in a hotel room at Narita Airport for four days. I have been trying to understand how this could have happened to one of the freest nations in Asia.
I'm not sure exactly what chain of decisions led to Wei's detention. We may hear more about that, or it may remain somewhat obscure. But since it was a problem for this man to step out of Narita Airport before June 4, but not a problem to step out into the streets of Japan after the event had safely passed, it's reasonable to assume that the commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre was the issue. Whether China asked Japan specifically to detain Wei, or whether Japanese officials imagined that it would be the polite and cautious thing to do, and whatever reasoning was invoked in the process, I think someone has been listening to the dangerous lies of the engagement/appeasement cult theology.
This is an idea that keeps popping up everywhere, that the enemies of freedom, human rights, and so on can be placated and turned into our bosom friends if we just have dialogue, give a little, listen to their demands, and treat them like decent people. Even if they are ruthless dictators, mass murderers, or wild-eyed radicals looking to blow themselves up in your presence. So, if we detain Wei for just a few days, it won't hurt Wei much, and China's government may hate us a bit less, right?
I'd say wrong, on both counts. China's leaders will still despise Japan, and the latest word is that Wei's health hasn't been so good.
Engagement sounds nice, I know. We like a positive-sounding approach. It also reflects the attractive idea of high expectations leading to positive behavioral outcomes. But we need not only high expectations, but realistic expectations, which make sense based on what we know from previous observations. Expecting a hardened criminal to become your buddy and the pillar of your community, if you pat him on the back and give him a little of what he demands, is a flaky dream. We all know better. And while engagement may be positive-sounding in rhetoric, its results are negative in practice.
Engagement generally only changes the people who are trying to do the engaging. Like a cult, its ideas can appeal to good, well-meaning people. They dream of easy solutions and polite, politically-correct interactions to defuse problems. They start to blame themselves (and others) for aggressions on the other side—absent of any real provocation. They imagine that not giving in to unreasonable expectations is itself provocation and aggression. It can all sound so persuasive at first.
The next thing you know, you find yourself doing strange things. Like providing development aid to a neighbor who builds up a dangerously capable military force and keeps hyping up popular opinion campaigns against you. Or like detaining Wei Jingsheng for a few days when he comes to give a speech.
We shouldn't pick on Japan in particular, of course. Not by any means. This cult of engagement has been all around the political circles of the world. I'm sure these pernicious beliefs were at work,(as well as the government-as-god tendency that develops as our nations become increasingly socialized) when Wang Wenyi was detained in the United States for interrupting an event to speak out against a terrible dictator.
Which do we hold more sacred, the integrity of the rituals enacted at our political events, or the notions of liberty and justice upon which a nation was founded? U.S. policy is riddled with mistakes deriving from these cult-like beliefs, from the One China policy to the free-trade fiasco. Many other countries have gotten taken in by the cult, too.
So, this is not about Japan-bashing. To the contrary, this is about telling our dear friends in Japan to keep shining a light of freedom in Asia, and that means not listening to the insidious teachings of the engagement/appeasement cult. It won't help you, and it's dangerous. It leads to policies that weaken and undermine free nations while empowering those who threaten them.
There's a pattern everyone should notice by now: placating the bullies never results in attaining their respect. It only places them in control and gives them, if possible, even more disdain for those they manipulate. When you're dealing with geopolitics, such ideas can have terrible consequences. Engagement is not only a strange belief system, it's potentially suicidal.
Curry Kenworthy is an advocate for China and world freedom. His writings on China issues can be found at: http://china-e-lobby.blogspot.com
Feeds