With the H5N1 avain flu virus causing large concern in the global health community, the WHO has raised alarm at China's ability to contain this virus. As in the SARS outbreak of 2003, China is a weak link in combating such potential pandemics.
However, it is not only China's medical logistics that are threatening the world, but the political tactics that China keeps insisting upon. In the SARS outbreak, China deliberately obstructed WHO officials from investigating the seriousness of the virus in Southeast China, with government officials covering up the number of SARS cases. China still continues to obscure its health data, denying international organizations full access to the festering H5N1 avain flu outbreaks in rural areas.
In addition, China managed to exclude Taiwan once again from the WHO as an observer. With Taiwan being a large trading nation, such exclusion creates a loophole in the global response system to epidemics and viruses. This also inhibits Taiwan's well-established medical community from contributing to global efforts to fight the spread of diseases, and denies Taiwan crucial access to WHO resources. During the SARS outbreak, China's political obstruction blocked WHO experts from assessing the situation in Taiwan for 7 whole weeks, despite Taiwan's prompt request for aid.
With the scope of globalization increasing daily, the world cannot afford to have China's political games sabatoge international efforts to fight the spread of these deadly diseases.
