ABSTRACT
The nations of ASEAN have consistently opposed attempts by the European Union or the United States to make trade agreements conditional on meeting standards of human rights—as defined and evaluated by the West. Many Asians question why European countries, many of which stood by as genocide ravaged Bosnia, believe they have the moral legitimacy to deliver judgement on abuses in Asia. That is only one among a number of concerns discussed in the following piece, which was first presented at a public hearing on human rights held by the European Parliament in Brussels in November 1995. This paper was revised in 1997 for the International Conference on Rights and Development organised by Roskilde University, Denmark, and slightly expanded for this book.
