ASIAN VALUES AND U. N.

PRINCIPLES, PERSONAL STORIES

The following is a personal story defending Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of

United Nations.

Ban Ki-Moon is a good man. I have a personal story to share about Ban. Many
considered him as the best choice of U.N. Secretary General when he was elected. It was
an Asian’s turn any way at the time. China’s representative graciously conceded to
Korea. That was also thought of as a very nice gesture.

I happened to know Ban because World Harmony Organization was presenting our
Harmony Renaissance Preamble and Declaration to U.N. (See attached) during 2008,
shortly after his election. He was very friendly and approachable befitting the description
of “Modesty, Moderation and Harmony”.

I followed him closely at the time running up to his election. I remembered his interview
by PBS Charlie Rose well. After the usual media pleasantry, Charlie went straight after
Ban. Charlie questioned Ban unceremoniously “You have been accused as soft and
noncommittal”. As a perfect Eastern gentleman and scholar, Ban without taking offense,
softly said “I am only interested in working for U.N. Harmony”. I said to myself “Great!
We finally got our harmony man in U.N.!”

As an aside, Ban’s English pronunciation is better than mine, considering I have been
here as an immigrant for over 50 years.

What the Western media got against Ban is a classic case of Western media’s lack of
understanding of Eastern modesty and harmony. Western media is used to aggressive
and confrontational approaches. There is a thing or two about Eastern Wisdom one can
learn from this story. Lao Tzu has said “The supreme good is like water, which
nourishes all things without trying to”, “Water the soft can bore a hole through the
hardest rock” and “Water the soft can sink or float the mightiest ship”.

It is time for a rebalance of the Yin and Yang or the West and East culture for world
harmony. “East is East and West is West, ne’er the twain shall meet”- Mark Twain. For
world Harmony Renaissance, it is time to indulge in some refreshing Eastern wind after
two hundred years of dominant Western wind.

Francis C W Fung, Ph.D.

Director General
World harmony Organization
francis@worldharmonyorg.net
ANOTHER PERSONAL STORY ON ASIAN VALUES AND U.N. PRINCIPLES

U.S. PBS TV is a great source of news that generally shows the greatness of America and
her people. However, when it comes to China, PBS does not practice fairness. Most of
PBS Haiti earth quake stories tend to focus on America’s contribution to humanity and
the U.S. Army rescue efforts. How about the U.N. and other non Western contributions?
U.N. has a very important and significant team. By all counts PBS should interview Ban
Ki-Moon also. After all U.N. should be the main coordinating body in control and not
America. How about China’s not so negligible contribution? China’s rescue team did
uncover the entrapped U.N. officer victims from the ruined U.N. office building

Not only PBS did not interview the Chinese rescue team but the U.S. media takes upon
itself to criticized China for emphasized efforts to rescue the U.N. staff and her own U.N.
team buried under the rubble. Luckily in this case Ban Ki-Moon came to China’s
defense stating that China’s rescue efforts is exemplary and balanced.

ASIAN VALUES AND U. N. PRINCIPLES (China Daily, Jan. 19, 2010)

Ban Ki-moon has entered the second half of his tenure as the UN
secretary-general when the world is still grappling with the financial
crisis, climate change, A/H1N1 flu virus, the Korean nuclear issue, the
Palestinian question and other important matters. But despite making
every effort to resolve these issues, Ban has fallen foul of the Western
media.
The Wall Street Journal has called him the "UN's invisible man" and
criticized him for lacking the charisma of his predecessors. The
Economist has assailed him for his supposed lack of managing skills.
And the Foreign Policy has said he has fallen short of providing global
leadership, and even ridiculed his English pronunciation.
Instead of hitting back at his critics, Ban has said he will accept their
criticisms with modesty. He, however, has urged the Western media
to understand Asian values such as modesty and moderation, as
well as the UN's principles.
Ban, former top diplomat of the Republic of Korea, is the eighth UN
secretary-general and the second from Asia. As the supreme executive
official and the primary representative of the UN, the secretaries-general
enjoy a very high status in the international community. But because
they are always in the spotlight, they become the target of criticisms and
bitter remarks.
Since the UN is a world body consisting of sovereign states, its
secretary-general's personal functions and powers are limited. The UN
is not a global government, and the secretary-general is not the leader
of the world. The UN Charter and the reality of international relations
restrict his power, and the world body's organizational structure and
culture limit his resolutions. On the world stage, the UN secretary-
general is a "dancer in chains" with limited role and function.
To assume that the UN could resolve all the international issues and its
secretary-general can play the role of world leader is simply wishful
thinking.
The secretary-general's job is one of delicate diplomacy. He has to be a
visionary, use his moral power to temper the conflicts over national
interests and raise the level of awareness among people across the
world. He also has to be skillful at coordinating relations among member
states, especially big powers, seeking consent to the maximum extent,
and be able to resolve issues with the support of the majority of the
international community. Ban, fully aware of his limited role, has done a
pretty good job on all these fronts.
In 2007, he completed the reform of the UN's peacekeeping and arms-
control departments. The UN peacekeeping force is now more than
100,000 strong and has become more effective. In December 2007, he
presided over and coordinated the UN climate change conference that
drew the Bali Road Map, a significant document after the Kyoto Protocol
that ushered in a new stage in the UN's fight against climate change
and paved the way for the ongoing Copenhagen summit. In 2008, he
flew more than 400,000 km to visit 35 countries and attend more than
700 meetings. From the quake zone in Sichuan, China, to the typhoon-
battered areas in Myanmar, and from African villages and towns where
the UN is involved in poverty relief work to the negotiation tables in the
Middle East, he has fulfilled the duty of the secretary-general with great
care and always maintained a low profile.
Compared with the coordination mechanisms of the big powers such as
G8 and G20, the UN is more inclusive and comprehensive. Hence, it
should be the center of global governance in the future. Ban's active
engagement in the fight against climate change indicates that he is a
visionary. He has made immense efforts to resolve this global issue
because he wants to raise the UN's authority, introduce global
governance functions to and pave the way for a stronger and abler
world body. He believes that handling international relations today
needs moderate mediators and not bullies, and has developed a new
paradigm to resolve thorny international issues. Nurtured by Asian
values such as modesty, moderation and harmony, he has made great
efforts to balance all the forces, handle discords, coordinate with
countries in matters of their national interests and taken appropriate
action with the support of all the stakeholders.
The Asian diplomatic and organizational culture that he has introduced
in the UN enshrines action rather than words, respects diligence and
pragmatism, advocates unity between knowledge and practice, and
deals with international conflicts with the "maximum extent of
cooperation, compromise and flexibility". This is very important, because
as a family of 192 countries the UN's chief canon should be harmony in
diversity. Ban may not appear charismatic to people who had gotten
used to the personality of his predecessor Kofi Annan. But they should
know that in the long run, Asian diplomatic culture would become a
precious asset for the UN. A UN that accommodates and fuses Western
and Eastern cultures will definitely be more vigorous and competent.
As ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu has said: "The supreme good
is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to". This morality
associated with water, which is beneficial to others but seeks no reward
or praise, is venerated by Eastern civilizations. It is also the state that
the UN secretary-general from Asia is seeking to reach - to do things
well, share the credit with others but accept the blame alone, not to
haggle over personal benefit and reputation, and be an "invisible man".
Doesn't such a personality deserve respect and appreciation?
The authors are researchers at the School of International Studies of
the Renmin University of China.