I guess it takes all kinds. The Taiwanese CCP enthusiast reveres Mao Zedong, which doesn’t surpirse me. To each his own.

Thanks to the reader who sent the link.

This post was written by guest blogger Dan Bloom, who describes himself as “an American freelance writer who has lived in Taiwan
since 1996.” These opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of Richard TPD.
====================

Keeping Taiwan out of the WHO health
assembly violates Hippocratic Oath

By Dan Bloom

When young men and women around the world studying to be doctors
complete their medical training, they take what is called the
Hippocratic Oath, promising to do their best to serve patients, male
and female, young and old, with care and understanding. Hippocrates
was a physician who lived in Greece more than 2,000 years ago, and his
oath, his words for doctors to live by, live on today.
Doctors across the globe live and work by the Hippocratic Oath, and
every doctor who lives in a country that is a member of the World
Health Organization (WHO) swears to uphold the declarations in this
ancient text, regardless of political affiliation or ideology.

“I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in
whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with
those who are to follow,” states a modern version of the Hippocratic
Oath, written in 1964 by a doctor at the prestigious School of
Medicine at Tufts University in Boston. “I will not be ashamed to say
`I know not,’ nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills
of another are needed for a patient’s recovery. In addition, I will
try to prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to
cure. I will also remember that I remain a member of society, with
special obligations to all my fellow human beings.”

In addition to the time-honored Hippocratic Oath, the General Assembly
of the World Medical Association at Geneva in 1948 published a global
declaration of a doctor’s dedication to the humanitarian goals of the
medical profession. This Declaration of Geneva was intended to update
the Oath of Hippocrates, and states in part, “As a member of the
medical profession, I solemnly pledge myself to consecrate my life to
the service of humanity.”

In addition, the Declaration of Geneva notably proclaims: “I will not
permit consideration of religion, nationality, race, party, politics
or social standing to intervene between my duty and my patients.”

Every professional doctor in China knows and understands what the
Hippocratic Oath and the Declaration of Geneva are all about. For the
leaders of their country to stand in opposition to Taiwan joining the
WHO as “a health entity with observer status,” as Taiwan’s government
has requested, is a slap in the face to both an honored, ancient oath
and a modern, principled declaration.

As Professor Dennis Hickey, a friend of Taiwan at Southwest Missouri
State University, has noted, Taiwan’s participation in the WHO may not
be a panacea or a magic bullet for the WHO’s efforts in future SARS or
bird-flu epidemic prevention, but it will help considerably. For
doctors in China to continue to support their government’s practice of
“health apartheid” against Taiwan is unconscionable.

Doctors are doctors, regardless of ideology or ethnic background. A
doctor in Taiwan takes the same Hippocratic Oath and follows the same
Declaration of Geneva as a doctor in China does, and it is time for
every doctor in China to stand up for the right of doctors and health
professionals in Taiwan to become “observers” in the WHO.

To refuse to recognize the right of Taiwan to have observer status in
the WHO is to reject the Hippocratic Oath and all that it stands for.

The next flu epidemic is inevitable, as Klaus Stohr, a WHO influenza
expert, stated at an international press conference in Thailand last
year. Stohr noted dramatically that a future flu pandemic could cause
the deaths of an estimated 4 million people worldwide. Other medical
experts, among them Shigeru Omi, the regional director of the WHO’s
Western Pacific Office, suggest that more than 10 million or 20
million deaths may result, and perhaps as many as 100 million.

For doctors in China to say nothing in favor of Taiwan’s WHO observer
status in the face of this global threat is a sad commentary on that
country’s narrow-minded, selfish and unethical state of mind. Before
the next pandemic occurs, it is time for China to put geopolitics
aside and allow Taiwan to enjoy WHO observer status. It would be a
professional courtesy that is long overdue.

Influential medical and health professionals around the world agree
that Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO as an observer represents a
serious threat both to the health of the Taiwanese people and to the
global community in the 21st century.

And, as has been suggested many times by health professionals
supportive of Taiwan’s international status, the steering committee of
the World Health Assembly should call an emergency meeting and accede
to Taiwan’s request to participate as an assembly observer. This must
be done now. Not next year, not in five years’ time, not in 10 years’
time.

The Hippocratic Oath and the Declaration of Geneva demand it.
=====================

“History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.”

The answer may well surprise you. He could be quite smart, at least sometimes.

Short but interesting commentary:

When Hu Jintao became the president of China in 2002, the Western media hoped he would be what Gorbachev was to Russia. Little did they know about Mr. Hu. The breakthrough for Mr. Hu’s public career came when he was named the secretary of the Communist Party in the Tibet region at the time of bloody revolt in 1988. He prevented further friction by enacting martial law. Right after Mr. Hu became the president, he visited the small village of Xibaipo. That’s where Mao Zedong had set up a secret base to prepare for a campaign to go into Beijing. Xibaipo is sacred ground where the Communist Revolution was completed. Mr. Hu is currently working on legislation that would legally allow aggressive military action toward Taiwan.

The issue of North Korean defectors is also a sensitive concern. The Grand National Party lawmakers who held a news conference regarding defectors on Jan. 12 must have underestimated the pride of China. After all, Mr. Hu is a leader whom BBC said has “an iron fist in a velvet glove.”

So, is Hu a saviour or merely a continuation of the way things were? I had really expected another Gorbachev, but at this point I see no reason to harbor such optimism.

Just read it. No, don’t just read it; think about it.

God, I miss Billmon.

If you read this article in Xinhua, you’d think it was a done deal — that China is going full speed ahead with a highway leading from Beijing to Taipei. How it gets across the strait isn’t addressed; there’s just a vague allusion to a tunnel or something.

Chinese Minister Zhang Chunxian of Communications revealed here Thursday that the country is planningto build an expressway between the capital city of Beijing an d Taipei.

“This has been included in a new expressway network plan mapped out by China,” he told a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet.

From now to 2030 China will complete work on 85,000 kilometers of expressways at an estimated cost of 2 trillion yuan (242.1 billion US dollars) in total, including one from Beijing to Taipei,Zhang said.

When the exchanges of mail service, trade and air and shipping services across the Taiwan Straits, or the so-called three direct links, are in place, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will be connected by expressway networks, he said.

A certain means of transport, being tunnels or other projects, could be adopted to link the expressways of the two places, in a certain period of time under the prerequisite of three direct links, the official said.

Of course, there’s only one tiny point the article never mentions, i.e., what do the Taiwanese have to say about this grandiose plan?? To find that out, you’ll have to dig a little deeper:

In Taiwan, a government spokesman said the Chinese announcement was merely a far-fetched exercise in political propaganda and had no significance. Taipei’s Central News Agency quoted spokesman Chen Chi-mai as saying as saying: “If China wants to contribute to cross-strait development, we hope that it will address cross-strait issues in a pragmatic manner.”

I always marvel at China’s state-controlled media’s ability to leave out the most crucial element of the story, assuming it’s speaking to an audience of idiots. This is just some bizarre fantasy of a drunken official, and Xinhua would have you believe construction starts tomorrow.

Another treasure that reminded me of my own train ride in China a hundred years ago. Great writing, great story, great blog.

Interesting. China has promised lots of money to help the tsunami victims, but it is literally invisible in terms of onsite help. This is being interpreted (by some, at least) as a sign that China is still not a global player in terms of its skills and diplomatic capabilities.

To be sure, China has hardly been idle. It has promised $83 million in aid, and Chinese citizens have donated $18 million more. Premier Wen Jiabao attended last week’s relief summit in Indonesia, and China has sent supplies and a 14-member medical team to hard-hit Sri Lanka.

Yet those steps have barely registered in media coverage of the aftermath of the Dec. 26 disaster, rife with images of U.S., Australian, and other relief teams at work. The U.S. military is dominating aid efforts, and Japan has promised $500 million and nearly 1,000 troops to help out.

Even Singapore has 900 servicemen and women on the ground in Indonesia.

Analysts say China’s response exposes the limitations on its ability to help in such crises, along with the diplomatic costs of its aversion to foreign entanglements.

“China is rising in importance in Asian and world affairs, but its power, influence, and reach can easily be exaggerated,” said Robert Sutter, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at Georgetown University.

China’s absence wouldn’t seem so glaring if it didn’t follow a major foray into the region last year.

Wen was a central figure at November’s meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where the organization’s 10 member countries agreed to a landmark trade accord with China.

China has also made initiatives aimed at protecting vital sea lanes and securing a steady supply of oil and raw materials to fuel its booming economy. Vague agreements have been reached for cooperation in military training, health care, and tourism, while highways and railroads are planned to draw the regions even closer.

However, China’s civil and military bodies have little experience or capacity to deal with disasters far from its shores. Although Beijing has dispatched civilian peacekeepers to Haiti, Congo and other conflict areas, its forces are poorly equipped for humanitarian missions, especially thousands of miles from home.

China’s response also reflects its extreme caution when approaching overseas entanglements where the upside for China isn’t readily obvious.

Many Chinese still consider their country a poor nation that can’t afford to match Japan and the West in foreign aid, and the government is wary of getting in over its head. While pledges to boost trade carry little political cost, a major foreign relief effort would divert limited resources and could entail longer-term commitments.

Bradley Williams, a research fellow in political science at the National University of Singapore, said China had missed a golden opportunity to shore up Southeast Asian friendships.

“Getting more involved would have provided China with a perfect opportunity to show their more compassionate side and alleviate some of the concerns about their rising influence in the region,” said Williams.

China’s state-controlled media doesn’t see it that way.

The aid offerings “have caught the world’s attention and the people of China are proud of this,” the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily exclaimed with pride last week. “This shows that Chinese people are their true friends and also shows that China is a responsible big country.”

When they need to announce that they’re a “responsible big country,” it’s a good indication that they’re probably not.

I’m simply too busy this week to give this site much attention, and if someone would like to post some new topics that are relevant to my readership (China and US politics) please send me an email. Thanks.

So many other blogs are covering this frightening story I wasn’t going to write it up. But Billmon has come out of hibernation to post about it, and it’s simply incredible. I want to love America, but sometimes it’s difficult.