On February 25, 2022, the Ditchley Foundation held an international conference on “Techno-Democracy” in a combination of in-person and virtual formats. Eric Li, China Forum’s vice chairman, was invited as a speaker and panelist at one of the working groups for “Techno-Democracy in Practice in Asia,” which also featured speakers including Rogier Creemers, professor at Leiden University; Yeong Zee Kin, assistant chief executive at the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore; and Baohong Sun, chair professor of marketing at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, as well as panelists including Peter Mandelson, former British deputy prime minister; Sophie Dingreville, advisor and board member in deeptech startups; and Alexandra Bolton, founding executive director of the Centre for Digital Built Britain, Cambridge University. The participants explored how Asian countries have adopted technologies to strengthen national governance, as well as the prospects of emerging technologies such as metaverse and blockchain.

As information technology grows at a rapid pace, how to use emerging technologies to boost national competitiveness and societal cohesion and to improve people’s living standards and wellbeing has become a focal point of institutional competition in the world today, Eric Li pointed out. Procedural, liberal democracy was successful in the second half of the 20th century, but its drawbacks have emerged in recent years, such as government inaction on the pandemic in the West and the shockwaves on elections from the surge of disinformation. Moreover, there is a need for liberal societies to guard against how private capital, as it acquires growing political influence from the union of technology and capital, can use technology to garner political power and thus put its own interests above the collective interest. In contrast, China’s result-oriented democracy works to enhance people’s satisfaction with those in power and how the country is moving forward, societal cohesion, national living standards, and the social resources for the wellbeing of future generations. China is potentially well placed to promote its democratic governance through technology.

The advancement of technology is unstoppable, and humanity has no choice but to use it wisely, Li concluded at the end of the conference, adding that it is imperative for the liberal democracies to effectively manage the technology-driven sprawl of private capital while China ought to balance the need for anti-monopoly and innovation incentives for businesses. Other participants also expressed their views on the future of technological application in Asia.

Established in 1958, the Ditchley Foundation is a non-governmental, non-profit think tank in the UK dedicated to building networks across the globe to facilitate exchanges between countries and institutions. It aims to bridge differences and promote understanding so that the world can move toward solutions to complex problems. In recent years, Ditchley has directed growing attention to the global role of China on top of its traditional focus on transatlantic relations and Europe.