"Even since its inception, the concept of Asian values has been controversial. Different arguments and interpretations of the concept or definition of Asian values have been produced during the debate. Most of the arguments or interpretations, however, have been too verbatim or literal. As a political term, Asian values should not be interpreted verbatim. Any argument about the literal meaning of the term is meaningless. It is pointless to argue literally about the concept or definition of Asia or that of Asian values. Instead, Asian values should be interpreted as an idea. It is idea behind it that counts, not the liberal meaning of the term itself. And the idea behind the concept of Asian values is to safeguard national identity and cultural distinctiveness in the face of domination or monopoly by Western media, cultures and values."
Asian values are not only an idea, but also a reality, some says. In some cultures and social systems in Asia, people share languages, religions and political beliefs. The shared languages, religions and political beliefs lead to shared aspects of cultures across borders. It is the shared aspects of cultures across borders in Asia that constitute the foundation for the idea of Asian values.
As part of the shared aspects of cultures, Asian values refer to the values that are more widely shared and more emphasized in much of Asia than in the Western world. Among them are freedom with responsibility, harmony, collectivism, tolerance of others, respect for order and authority, etc. A 1996 "Asian Images" survey by Far Eastern Economic Review in 1996 shows that Asian values do exist with numerous variations in the region, differing demonstrably from Western ones.
The Asian value's debate has touched upon many fields, but its focus is largely on two major areas: (1) Asian values and human rights and (2) Asian values in journalism. Xu's paper attempts to deal with the Asian values in journalism or specifically in intercultural news communication. By his definition, intercultural news communication basically refers to home news for overseas service and foreign news for home service or simply news presentation and consumption across cultures.
But the Asian perspectives on what constitutes news differs from the Western, Xu feels. In most Asian countries, it is widely accepted that news is determined by the role a particular society assigns to its media. Consequently, any value judgment of news can be only in relation to such assigned roles.
The reassertion of traditional values seems to be vital at a time when journalists are challenged to subscribe to the values of the boardroom or the newsroom. "And their response will be shaped as much by their cultural attributes as their commitment to journalistic values."
