Richard K. Armey: “Mr. Speaker, the House today is commemorating a very, very special event: The first democratic election leading to a…”

“Mr. Speaker, the House today is commemorating a very, very special event: The first democratic election leading to a transfer of power in the 5,000-year history of the Chinese people. This is, indeed, a momentous event not only for the Chinese, not only for Taiwan, but for the cause of democracy itself. It was not that long ago, Mr. Speaker, that many people believed that democracy may be a dying creed. I remember as recently as 1984, one French philosopher respected by some friends of mine wrote that the era of democracy may be, and I quote, ``a brief parenthesis that is even now closing before our eyes.'' There was a popular view, shared by conservative pessimists as well as left-wing revolutionaries, that some form of dictatorship was the only alternative to even worse forms of government. At best, these people believed that democracy was only appropriate for some cultures, but not for most. Though they rarely said so, what they really meant was that it was only suited for some kinds of people and not for others. Certainly, not for Asians who, it was said, had unique ``Asian values.'' That made democracy unsuited for them and they unsuited for democracy. Well, Mr. Speaker, how wrong they were.…”