Twenty years ago, during my time at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC), I wrote the lyrics “treat disease prevention like fighting a war” to a song drawing on the martial spirit of preparing for and responding to war. After Taiwan’s experiences with enteroviruses and SARS, a professional, fast-response disease-prevention system was established.
Subsequent outbreaks of avian flu, influenza A H1N1 and dengue fever were all successfully contained. It would not be any stretch of the imagination to describe disease prevention and national defense as projects of the Buddhist idea of protecting life — husheng (護生).
Yet, some domestic anti-war academics still conflate anti-war principles with being anti-defense. They disregard rising aggression and jump to argue against arms procurement and resisting a Chinese invasion, even equating defense preparation with provocation. This logic is just as perverse as advocating for disease prevention while refusing to purchase vaccines, personal protective equipment or medicine.
Taiwan has long faced threats from Chinese military planes and missiles. If it cannot defend itself, the policy of maintaining “equal distance” in relations with China and the US will equal certain death.
I am a Buddhist who practices nonviolence in the spirit of protecting all life. However, that does not mean that I would not kill bacteria or eradicate mosquitoes. The same should go for national defense. Taiwan should not wage war or kill out of aggression, but should stand up to resist invaders to prevent a massacre of its own people. If being anti-war means opposing aggression, then I am anti-war. Refusing to prepare or resist is to give up on Taiwan.
Some pro-unification and anti-war academics oppose Taiwan preparing for war while ignoring Chinese arms expansion and nuclear intimidation. They single out Taiwan over arms procurements and call US arms sales “killing machines.” That is not being anti-war; it is capitulation.
The “treat disease prevention like fighting a war” principle was geared to safeguard the health of Taiwanese; “treat national defense as disease prevention” can likewise save lives. Being anti-war is not about refusing to prepare, but rather about maintaining deterrence so the opponent does not act rashly. This is Taiwan’s best chance for maintaining peace.
Recently appointed CDC Director-General Philip Lo’s (羅一鈞) plans to send disease-control physicians to Africa, and Taiwan sending a battalion of troops to the US for training are two sides of the same coin. Just as we make preparations to fight contagions to prevent epidemics, we must be prepared to resist invasion to prevent war.
Shih Wen-yi is a former deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control.
Translated by Gilda Knox Streader
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