Photo montage by Adam Connors
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One Dream Team
By ROGER MITTON
What would a millennium "dream cabinet" drawn from Asiaweek's Power
50 2000 look like? First, the qualifications. The members must all
be people who, over an extended period, have performed, and performed
consistently, often in trying circumstances. Then they must all be
exemplars of today's revolutionary new world -- in how they view technology
and business, yes, but also how they see the future of society and
politics. Now, the names. Assuming the candidates do not lapse into
ego-clashing or inertia, then a nation blessed with this cabinet might
well emulate Japan's economic efficiency, embrace Singapore's clean
and ordered society, and yet permit its citizens the joy-inspiring
liberties of Thailand. Hey, it's a dream cabinet, and sometimes dreams
come true.
Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee. Anyone who leads India could lead the
world. Its ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious diversity is
mindboggling. It has half a dozen insurgency movements and antagonistic
-- if not openly aggressive -- neighbors. As well, its population
has just passed the one-billion mark. The mere thought of trying to
govern India is enough to induce terrifying nightmares. Yet the serene
and honest (so far as we can tell) Vajpayee has run this behemoth
with extraordinary restraint and astuteness. Indeed, of Asia's two
giants, it is now India rather than China that is bursting onto the
world's stage as the powerhouse to watch. It is also a flourishing
democracy -- China has yet to mount that tiger, while India has managed
it for more than 50 years. And with Vajpayee in the saddle, the nation
has rarely looked stronger and more resolute. Vajpayee also continues
to encourage India's computer geniuses, fanning out like worker bees,
to take the world by storm. The man covers all bases.
Deputy PM and Finance Minister Zhu Rongji. His record and his ongoing
commitment to reform China's monolithic economy is alone enough to
justify his inclusion. Add his sheer political moxie and PR skills
and he shows himself to be the perfect partner for Vajpayee. They
would form an exquisite yin-and-yang power-complementary duo from
Asia's two largest nations -- and that would augur well for the cabinet's
stability. Okay, Zhu is autocratic and his tough talk on Taiwan backfired,
but it was necessary for domestic reasons and every savvy minister
who wants to survive knows that kind of thing is required once in
a while. In the context of China, Zhu is his still-evolving country's
most openly forthright, articulate and accessible leader.
Trade & Industry Minister Li Ka-shing and Science & Technology Minister
Idei Nobuyuki bring to the cabinet an inestimable fountain of knowledge
and experience about today's fast-changing, high-tech business world.
Li is a super-sharp businessman uniquely positioned to forge lucrative
trade ties globally. Technology czar Idei combines business sense
with vision -- and the boldness to re-evaluate, regroup and change
tack when needed.
Interior Minister Mahathir Mohamad would liaise well with Li and especially
Idei (the Japanese love him and he them). Few Asian leaders have modernized
their country as comprehensively as Mahathir has done for Malaysia
over the past two decades. During most of that time, he was also interior
minister so the portfolio suits him. Some may argue that Mahathir's
authoritarian style and uncompromising attitude toward dissent should
bar him. But his repeated re-election as leader and his commitment
to the IT revolution confirm his stature.
Minister of Defense Goh Chok Tong. This supreme technocrat fits right
into the defense portfolio, having held that post for a decade in
supremely defended Singapore. Goh bestrides regional summits as the
leader most likely to know the answers, give the most cogent speeches,
have the best long-term strategies.
Foreign Affairs Minister Kim Dae Jung. In setting up a meeting with
his reclusive and dictatorial North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Il,
D.J. has brokered Asia's most historic summit to date. Add his initiatives
in Indochina and enhanced rapport with Beijing and Tokyo, coupled
with his pro-democracy credentials, and it's evident he is made for
the dream team's foreign ministry. Equally ideal in his post is Justice
Minister Chuan Leekpai, given that he is a trained lawyer, a staunch
believer in democracy and human rights, and a confident conciliator.
Chuan will have a soulmate in Health & Education Minister Jose Alexandre
"Xanana" Gusmao. After his long incarceration and resistance struggle,
Gusmao looks as fit, wise and statesmanlike as Nelson Mandela did
upon his release. He rounds out perfectly this dream cabinet of proven
achievers and innovators.
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