ABSTRACT
Appearing at regular intervals, three to four times a century, globe-spanning pandemics have long existed as a threat to humanity. However, the rapid expansion of globalization has greatly enhanced that threat. Often described as “artificial disease force-multipliers,” attributes of globalization – such as expanded global trade and tourism; the movement of goods, services and people across the planet in ever increasing numbers; and rapid urbanization – have exacerbated human vulnerability to pandemics.1 It has become widely accepted in the public health community that a novel or re-emergent virus which is highly virulent and easily transmissible among humans is inevitable and long overdue.2 Recognizing this threat, the World Economic Forum in its 2006 Global Risks Report ranked pandemics and natural disasters among the gravest risks confronting the international community.3 This chapter explores efforts to effectively respond to pandemic disease within the Asian-Pacific community. It argues that pandemics represent a significant threat to human life and well-being, while simultaneously providing a unique opportunity for international cooperation in the sphere of pandemic prevention and control that is essential to effective pandemic response. Such cooperation may also represent a point of departure for expanded trust and cooperation in other spheres of international relations. However, how we frame pandemics in political terms can have a significant effect on successful pandemic response. Does the movement toward framing pandemic threats as a form of high politics/non-traditional security increase or decrease the likelihood of successful global pandemic response? The chapter opens by exploring the debate on how to frame pandemics in international politics. It then describes growing global awareness of the threat pandemics represent for the international community while focusing on the PRC’s uniquely important role as a focal point of pandemic development, spread and, potentially, control. The chapter then explores the nature and development of international cooperation on pandemic response, with a focus on the PRC and its interaction with key actors in the Asia-Pacific, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the World Health Organization (WHO) and
the United States Centers for Disease Control (USCDC). While making the case that pandemic response offers a real opportunity for international cooperation on a relatively “safe” issue, the chapter draws on Taiwan as a case study of the impact which framing may have in undermining effective public health cooperation and, by extension, resulting in less effective pandemic response with the potential for enormous human and economic repercussions.
