Throughout history, humanity always paid a steep price to tyrants who wield unchecked power.
Totalitarian regimes, characterized by their lack of accountability and transparency, continue to pose a great peril to humanity.
Hitler is the most major example, inflicting the horrors of Nazi Germany on the world. Today, we witness Putin causing terrible suffering to the people of Ukraine.
The COVID-19 pandemic, originating in China where the totalitarian government has little regards for their citizens, has killed tens of millions of people around the world, serves also as a stark reminder of this danger.
One of the gravest concerns lies in China’s utilization of its market power to coerce foreign companies operating within its borders to compromise democratic values and the principles of civilized humanity, while China itself undermining and devaluing the essence of democracy. Recently, Vietnam and several Asian countries expressed concerns over China’s insistence that businesses operating in China accept maps issued by the Chinese government featuring the contentious 9-dash line in the South China Sea—a claim that has been invalidated by International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. This flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Vietnam, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian nations by the totalitarian of China is deeply alarming.
Additionally, we observe an increasing incidences of data coercion and privacy infringement of foreign companies doing business in China, accompanied by rising restrictions on exposing the wrongdoings of the Chinese government. The Chinese regime consolidates economic power and the resources of a major nation to serve an extreme nationalist ideology, captivating the Chinese populace through indoctrinating policies and information control which deviate from the values outlined in The Social Contract for the AI Age. These policies further the ambition of the Chinese Communist leaders, whose goal is to undermine the rules-based order and dominate the global order.
The Global Alliance for Digital Governance and Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security urgently warns of these visible threats and implores all civilized and progressive people to take immediate action to confront these perils:
- Establishing a unified community with democratic and civilized standards, forming a market block among democratic nations, with the United States, Japan, the European Union, and India as pillars. This community should include all countries and individuals who respect and uphold the values of democracy and progress.
- Exposing, boycotting, and refusing to engage with companies driven solely by profit and willing to compromise the principles of civilized and progressive humanity, when they acquiesce the demands of the Chinese government to undermine and devalue democracy. The Global Alliance for Digital Governance and Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security will compile and publish a list of such companies.
It is imperative that the democratic world acts swiftly to counter the threats and perils posed by the Chinese Communist Party before it is too late.
July 14, 2023
Yasuhide Nakayama, Former Japanese State Minister of Foreign Affair and Minister of Defense, Coordinator of the Shinzo Abe Initiative in Japan
Nam Pham, Former Assistant Secretary of Business Development & International Trade, Massachusetts Government
