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on trial because he had grown too powerful and influential of late, and Mahathir perceived a threat to his power. The result of the trial, being held in front of judges that Mahathir installed, will serve as a referendum on Malaysia's direction in the 21st century.
China seemed to be making strides toward furthering the cause of freedom this year, signing the International Covenant for the protection of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). However, China's actions have undermined its words, as a recent crackdown on dissidents has left several would-be political leaders in jail for decades each for their attempt to form a political party. (The next column will deal with this issue in detail.)
How well will these painful lessons of 1998 be learned for 1999? There will be plenty of chances to find out. Cambodia can re-engage civilly with the world, and begin to emerge from its decades-long sleep. Indonesia has general elections scheduled for next March, and no matter what the result, a free, fair election -- the first in Indonesia's history -- would represent a milestone for the nation, and a giant step forward into democracy. The result of the Anwar trial in Malaysia will serve as a portent of how long Mahathir can remain in power. An acquittal for Anwar will likely signal the beginning of the end of Mahathir's rule.
The Japanese economy may be out of the hands of its politicians, but if the country learned its lessons, 1999 will bring more transparency in government regulation and business dealings, fewer bad loans, and an end to the political squabbling. A recent engagement between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the smaller Liberal Party that went sour over disagreement on the use of Japanese troops in United Nations peacekeeping operations is not a good sign that the squabbling is decreasing.
China's economic growth will bring not only friends in American business, but adversaries in business and government, as protectionist pressure rises, using human rights as an excuse to push a purely economically self-interested agenda that neither benefits American consumers nor helps the cause of human rights. Such a situation will demonstrate that while China may have learned how to manipulate its perceived economic prowess, the United States will not have learned its lessons about how to deal with China.
These descriptions sound depressingly like nobody learned anything. Maybe it doesn't matter how much people and governments learn:
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