The following is from an editorial in today's Sankei Shimbun.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for people worldwide.
Concerned about Cooperation with China
Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare Keizo Takemi met with China's top health official, Lei Haichao, head of the National Health and Medical Commission, in Beijing on July 19 and agreed to cooperate in developing drugs and vaccines for infectious diseases.
However, this is fraught with peril.
The Xi Jinping administration's failure to adequately disclose information has delayed China's and other countries' initial response in preventing infection and taking waterfront countermeasures, leading to a severe situation.
China is also a country that has unfairly detained employees of Japanese pharmaceutical companies.
Does Mr. Takemi really believe that he can develop a vaccine in such a country?
When the World Health Organization (WHO) dispatched a survey team to Wuhan, where the outbreak of the new coronary disease had begun, the team was only allowed to conduct surveys in places where China had agreed to do so.
To begin with, China does not understand the obvious: that there are no national or regional barriers to infectious diseases and that it gives priority to political issues.
Taiwan, which has succeeded in its initial response to coronary disease, seeks to participate as an observer in the WHO's General Assembly, but China is blocking its participation.
Intellectual property is not protected, and there is a risk that Japanese drug discovery technology will be stolen.
More than a year has passed since a Japanese male employee of Astellas Pharma Inc. was detained in Beijing on suspicion of espionage.
What Mr. Takemi should have done was strongly urge his immediate release.
Cooperation is difficult when the freedom and safety of Japanese people are not ensured.
It should be recognized that infectious diseases are not only a public health issue but also a security issue.
It is crucial to have a system in place to develop vaccines and remedies quickly for domestically produced diseases if an unknown infectious disease occurs again.
Takemi said, "It is difficult for one country alone to develop vaccines and drugs in the short term in an emergency.
Cooperation with other countries is necessary, but to protect the lives and health of our citizens, we should collaborate with countries such as Europe and the United States that share our values, such as freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and basic human rights.
If joint development with China were to occur, these countries would be concerned that drug-discovery technology would flow out to China through Japan.
We must avoid a situation in which Europe, the U.S., and other countries hesitate to collaborate with Japan.
This editorial proves that my article of August 2 hit the nail on the head.
They have again put Nishibe Susumu's The Mass Media Will Ruin the Nation Theory into practice.
Since Abe was assassinated, the people who control the Bank of Japan and the Ministry of Finance, and the politicians who only do as they say, are ruling Japan.
They are mere test graduates who grew up reading the Asahi and Nikkei newspapers or underachievers who have problems with their abilities.
2024/7/30 in Onomichi
