WASHINGTON -- Two recent events in Asia have again directly underscored the "ideological" tussle between Washington and Beijing, which is increasingly seen as a benevolent power and even as offering a model for socioeconomic development. As Asian leaders gathered last month in Kuala Lumpur for the East Asian Summit, antiglobalization protests against the sixth World Trade Organization ministerial meeting gathered steam in Hong Kong.
At a recent conference on Asian economic integration held in New Delhi, a professor from Jawahral Nehru University spoke of a socially oriented "Beijing Consensus," contrasting it with the liberal "Washington Consensus" that emerged in the 1990s.
The professor reminded the audience that as Asian countries try to establish an East Asian Community, they must reflect on the type of society they really want to establish: a liberal Anglo-Saxon model or a more socialist model that places emphasis on stability before development and reforms.