Asia | Banyan

Democracy is reviving in Asia

Being a corrupt Asian strongman is not what it used to be

THE CHAGRIN of the dozen-odd years of this column’s existence is that fair, free and open societies in Asia have for most of that time been on the retreat. The golden advances in Asian democracy were in the 1980s and 1990s, when dictatorships in the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan fell spectacularly. In recent years freedom has been on the back foot.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “A sparkle of democracy”

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From the February 11th 2023 edition

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