Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
cover-up of the disease. by calling for combating SarS in a 'transparent and effective
manner', southeast asian states subtly intervened in china's domestic affairs as a
compensation for their weakness at the international level (aSean 2003). During
this special aSean-china leaders meeting, however, aSean diplomats were very
careful not to criticise beijing's mishandling of the epidemic directly, but rather to
seek china's cooperation in dealing with a highly sensitive issue. the idea was for
aSean leaders to agree on a set of resolutions and measures for china to sign on
to. on the part of china, once the power succession issues were resolved in the
nPc meeting and a consensus was reached among political elites on the urgency
and the necessity for action, the government was ready to 'face reality and the world
courageously and responsibly' (ching cheong 2003). Keenly aware that the image
of the country and the reputation of the new leadership were at stake, wen was very
open, candid, and cooperative at bangkok. In the joint statement, china agreed to
'associate itself with the measures proposed by the aSean declaration' (vatikiotis
2003). this seemingly half-hearted endorsement was indeed remarkable, given that a
total embracement of the measures decided by the aSean leaders would be perceived
in china as an act of submission. to demonstrate its commitment to cooperate with
aSean countries, china proposed the creation of a special fund to support a variety
of bilateral programmes with the aSean countries against the SarS contagion.
Ultimately the bangkok Summit proved to be a win-win case for both china and
southeast asia. For leaders in southeast asia, the health crisis reinvigorated their
association and served to equalise relations with china. china, on the other hand,
deftly used the new dynamics created by the summit to expand its influence in this
region. In October, China became the first ever 'strategic partner' of the ASEAN
members, which was regarded as a victory over the suspicions that aSean members
have long harboured toward china because of territorial disputes and ideological
conflicts. In the words of Singaporean prime minister Goh chok tong, the SarS
crisis may have been 'the start of a new relationship between leaders in east asia'
(vatikiotis 2003).
another lesson of the epidemic was that despite aSean's development of
significant cooperative arrangements regarding containment of the epidemic, it
remained the responsibility of its sovereign member states to implement those
principles and to engage in suppression of the contagion. Moreover, the rapid response
of aSean leaders and their willingness to cooperate in the containment of SarS
were doubtless influenced by prior shocks to governance in the region such as the
Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, as well as the regional environmental effects of the
fires raging at that time. These shocks had generated incentives for ASEAN countries
to become increasingly cooperative in managing complex transboundary issues.
Effects on International Health Governance
Prior to the emergence of SarS, international health regimes (as governed by the
International Health Regulations [IHR]) were seriously dated, for two reasons. First,
