Asian Bioethics: What Is It?, and Is There Such a Thing?

Debates in bioethics have now become global. This is so not only because of the fact that advances in today’s biotechnology and life sciences are so rapid and wide ranging that it quickly spans the globe, but also because the different cultural traditions in the world need to find their solutions toward these challenges. Hence it is no longer adequate to limit the debates and discussions in bioethics only within the Western perspectives. As more countries, notably in Asia, enter into the advances in biotechnology and the life sciences, these countries need to find their ways of solving the problems as well as carry on the debates and discussions as partners in the global dialog. The phenomenon has prompted many to argue for the existence of ‘Asian bioethics’ which implies that the bioethics as practiced in Asia may be different from that in the West. In the same way as ‘Asian elephant’ is a species of elephants found only in Asia, the implication is that ‘Asian bioethics’ is a species of bioethics found only in Asia. In addition, terms such as ‘Asian culture’ or ‘Asian thought’ also imply that there is something distinct about the culture and thought of Asia, and presumably Asian bioethics would fall into these broad categories.