India, Human Rights, and ‘Asian Values'

Abstract

In the 1980s, a number of statesmen and states in Asia argued with some force that Western conceptions of human rights had little or no applicability in Asia. Instead they contended that Asians had a markedly differing conception of human rights, one that did not focus on the rights of the individual but on those of the community. One of the most forceful advocates of this position was Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of the modern city-state of Singapore. His views found much resonance across other parts of southeast and east Asia as national leaders from Malaysia to the People's Republic of China (PRC) voiced similar arguments.