Letter From the Editors
When the gap between government and governed grows too large, the results can be catastrophic.
Welcome to the June issue of The Diplomat Magazine.
Even on those (very) rare occasions when a nation lives up to the lofty credo of “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” the undeniable fact remains: The government is not “the people.” There will always be distance between governors and governed, and the larger that gap grows, the more difficulties arise.
This month’s issue looks at different ways the government-to-people relationship can function – or break down entirely. Some examples are dramatic and historic, such as the Chinese government’s use of deadly force against protesters gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 30 years ago. Others are slow and under-the-radar, like the ongoing raid on Timor-Leste’s petroleum fund. From deconstructing a stolen election in Thailand to remembering an emperor who championed the disadvantaged in Japan, this month we explore a few of the ways governments, monarchs, and other elites interact with the people they claim to represent.
In our cover story, Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, D.C., outlines the meticulous preparations Thailand’s military junta made to ensure its victory in the first elections since the 2014 coup. The plan seems to have worked, albeit with less breathing room than Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha may have hoped. But the facade of democratic legitimacy will not overcome the issues of a divided, partisan populace, a new king with a penchant for political meddling, and a struggling economy. Thailand’s problems, and those of the future government, are far from over.
Next, we mark the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests and the subsequent massacre by taking a look at the surprising resilience of Chinese activism in the decades since June 4, 1989. Emile Dirks, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, explores how Chinese activists have continued to push for change on everything from worker’s rights to government accountability. The tanks rolling through Tiananmen Square may have put an end to high-profile mass protests in China, but even under the tightening control of Xi Jinping, activists have sought out ways to continue their mission.
Then Bardia Rahmani, a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University and a freelance journalist, delves into the biggest scandal you’ve never heard of: The looting of Timor-Leste’s petroleum fund to finance “white elephant” infrastructure projects, with elites and foreign firms alike making a hefty profit. Rahmani outlines how Timor-Leste’s government slowly chipped away at the legal safeguards protecting the fund from misuse. In a country as oil-dependent as Timor-Leste – the petroleum fund supplies 90 percent of the government’s annual budget – the draining of the fund could have catastrophic consequences.
Finally, Kenneth Ruoff looks back at the reign of now-Emperor Emeritus Akihito in Japan. Ruoff, a professor of history and director of the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University, notes Akihito’s legacy as a champion of liberal, pacifist post-war Japan – and a man focused on ensuring that all of Japan’s people felt the benefits of its prosperity. His son, the new Emperor Naruhito, will likely continue this approach on the whole, but there are already signs of subtle shifts in focus that will come to define the new Reiwa era.
We hope you enjoy these stories, and the many more in the following pages.