As Stanislav says, it's about whether the government is in the threat profile. All of human history, including in Asia, shows that the protective government eventually go corrupt. The more power they have then, the worse things will be for the citizens. This already happened more than once in Asia.

So, the question isn't no rights/freedoms for safety vs rights/freedoms without safety. What are you even talking about? Aren't you aware that there are countries with plenty freedom and low violence? And even areas of my country (U.S.) that are similar due to culture? You can keep free speech/expression, free press, due process, and so on without it turning into the Wild Wild West. At worst, people will be more honest and blunt with a bad guy here and there going free instead of innocent people being locked up.