Regional Public Health Cooperation In East Asia (2002-2009)

The outbreak of SARS crisis in 2002-2003 convincingly demonstrated how destructive an infectious disease could become in a globalizing world. Today, almost seven years after SARS burst onto the pages of medical history, AIDS, H5N1 avian influenza, H1N1 flu and other kinds of newly emerging or reemerging infectious diseases continue to wreak havoc on public health and safety, and are subtly affecting political and economic relations among countries. Public health has thus become an increasingly important factor in international relations.East Asia was most severely affected by SARS. Relaxed vigilance against potential crises, inadequate public health services and poor regional coordination and cooperation increased the vulnerability of East Asia to a public health crisis. As opposed to their behaviors during the financial crisis in 1997, however, East Asian countries promptly reached a consensus on fighting SARS, cooperated closely with each other and finally prevailed. It was from the war on SARS that East Asian countries began to cooperate on public health issues by establishing a regional crisis prevention and management regime. The SARS crisis is inspiring in the sense that it is a vivid example of how effective supplies of regional public goods can impact on regional stability and prosperity and promote regional cooperation and integration.The theory of regional public goods is a new perspective in the study and interpretation of the trends towards regional cooperation and integration. In the context of inadequate supplies of international public goods, it will become more and more common that regional countries supply, finance and manage supplementary public goods for the benefit of the region. One of the policy implications of supplying regional public goods is that a country can benefit from the regional regime by bearing certain costs in the supply of regional public goods rather than by acting as a "free rider". This strategy is also attractive to East Asian countries.However, political and security considerations, value conflicts and external factors are all barriers to the regional cooperation in East Asia. Accordingly, there is no inherent demand for regional-public goods. As opposed to the situations in EU and NAFTA, the supply of regional public goods in East Asia is always driven by an urgent need to handle a crisis. Therefore, while EU has developed step by step from a free trade area, customs union, common market, economic and monetary union to full economic integration, it is unrealistic for East Asia to follow suit. New modes are required for the regional integration of East Asia.Supplying more regional public goods in East Asia by focusing on public health issues is one such mode. Public health is a field for the common good, incorporating such universal values as improving survival, promoting health and ensuring security for the human beings. In this non-political, non-traditional and non-typical field, supplying regional public goods can help eliminate barriers to and reduce costs of cooperation, build up trust and explore ways to promote cooperation in Ease Asia. In this sense, supplying regional public goods for health will pave the way for cooperation and integration in East Asia. This paper, therefore, is aimed at proving that supplying regional public goods for health is beneficial to regional political and economic development, and health cooperation can effectively promote cooperation in East Asia.Appreciating the importance of public health is also critical to China's regional strategy. China's foreign relations during the SARS crisis demonstrated that making contributions to regional public goods for health would more likely help China win respect from neighboring countries. As a regional big power, China must respond to the challenge as to how to carry out its responsibilities in an assuring way that will be welcomed by its neighbors. This paper concludes that affirmatively and actively supplying regional public goods is a major way through which China can contribute to the regional welfare. Although public health is not a key issue in China's foreign relations strategies, it should become one of China's priorities in supplying regional public goods.Health cooperation in East Asia is new to the region, with only modest achievements so far. Therefore, this paper is only a preliminary study on the health cooperation in East Asia from the perspective of regional public goods. Nevertheless, public health is a new issue worthy of more extensive intellectual exploration.