Published
May 5, 2003
Star Tribune
About
a week ago I attended one of those plush Hollywood invitation-only
book-signing parties. An editor of the Los Angeles Times remarked
to a cluster of Hollywood writers and intellectuals that the spread
of SARS
was a result of the Chinese trait of being irresponsible.
In
Zen Buddhism one can find enlightenment while sweeping the floor,
or ripping up old books. This party, with its wine and haute couture,
was my moment of Zen enlightenment.
The
media are creating a false impression of the SARS epidemic by
focusing just on its medical aspect and the deceit of the Chinese
in handling the matter.
The
major problem with the SARS epidemic, other than the epidemic
itself, is the lack of human rights in China and the effect this
lack has domestically and internationally.
The
old China hand and journalist, Jonathan Mirsky, has revealed that
the main reason for delay in providing the information on SARS
was the fear of local government officials. They failed to report
the problem because they knew that an epidemic had to be kept
totally secret and confidential, and that they would be charged
with treason for breaking the news without official permission.
Not only has this impeded information on SARS from being released
and studied; it has also hampered the spread of information about
AIDS in China. One reporter of HIV illnesses in China was sentenced
to a long prison term. This lesson was not lost on the Chinese
public.
The
SARS issue has tainted the Chinese themselves. Rather than concentrating
on the political and institutional failures of China, the emphasis
has been on Chinese behavior and characteristics.
Consider,
though, the example of Taiwan. The Taiwanese have responded excellently
to the SARS outbreak. Why? Taiwan is a democracy. The old prejudices
about the Chinese lack of respect for human life become a crutch
for people who do not want to understand the real nature of the
tragedy.
We
like to claim that our compassion for the oppressed people in
Iraq is one cause for our toppling of Saddam Hussein. But we have
not obstructed China from denying Taiwan medical information and
treatment. China has
not allowed Taiwan to receive direct help from the World Health
Organization, nor from the International Red Cross. The Beijing
government has used its muscle to prevent Taiwan's membership
in the World Health Organization. It has not allowed Taiwanese
medical staff to visit China to determine the nature and scope
of the SARS epidemic.
Taiwan's doctors cannot travel to China to care for visiting Taiwanese
who may be victims of SARS.
This
embargo of Taiwan has been part of Beijing's consistent policy.
In the aftermath of a major earthquake in Taiwan some years ago,
China would not allow international aid to go directly to Taiwan,
nor would it allow planes equipped with specialized rescue personnel
and materials to fly over Chinese air space. Even today, China
prevents Taiwan from preparing itself against diseases that originate
in China and pass through Hong Kong to Taiwan.
The
political and international treatment of SARS should alert us
all to the role that the human right to health should play in
the future. The failure to place pressure on China to protect
its own people and to allow Taiwan to better protect its people
should be a subject for scrutiny. And it should be corrected before
the next human or natural tragedy occurs in East Asia.
