HONG KONG REACTIONS TO MARGARET CHAN,S NOMINATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L HONG KONG 003063 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EAP/EP TWANG STATE FOR G/AIAG JLANGE, HFOSTER, RFENDRICK STATE FOR M/MED AND M/MEDEX PETER WOOD HHS FOR OGHA - STEIGER, ELVANDER, BHAT BANGKOK FOR RMO, CDC STATE PLEASE PASS TO USDA FOR DU/US LAMBERT BEIJING FOR DSELIGSOHN E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2031 TAGS: AMED ECON PREL KSTH TBIO EAGR CVIS HK CH SUBJECT: HONG KONG REACTIONS TO MARGARET CHAN,S NOMINATION TO LEAD WHO CLASSIFIED BY: ECONOMIC/POLITICAL SECTION ACTING CHIEF JEFF ZAISER; REASONS 1.4(B,D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: ON JULY 25, THE PRC CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN BEIJING NOMINATED DR. MARGARET CHAN, FORMER HONG KONG DIRECTOR OF HEALTH, TO BE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO). MEDIA REPORTS AND CONTACTS IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH FIELD SUGGEST BROAD SUPPORT FOR HER CANDIDACY, BELIEVING THAT BEIJING MIGHT BE MORE OPEN TO WHO EFFORTS IN THE REGION IF A CHINESE PERSON WERE AT THE HELM OF THE ORGANIZATION. SOME PATIENT ADVOCACY GROUPS IN HONG KONG, HOWEVER, HAVE CRITICIZED CHAN FOR HER HANDLING OF THE SARS CRISIS IN 2003. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) BRIEF BIO: CHAN HAS MEDICAL DEGREES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO AND AN MPH FROM THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE. SHE JOINED HONG KONG,S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IN 1978 AND WAS APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF HEALTH IN ¶1994. SHE CAME UNDER STRONG CRITICISM FOR HER ALLEGED POOR HANDLING OF THE SARS OUTBREAK, A FACTOR THAT PLAYED A LARGE ROLE IN HER RESIGNATION FROM THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT IN ¶2003. A 2004 SARS REPORT CITED HER FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S SLOW RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS; IN PARTICULAR, SHE WAS BLAMED FOR THE FAILURE TO ATTACH IMPORTANCE TO INITIAL REPORTS OF THE EPIDEMIC IN GUANGDONG, AND FOR HONG KONGS DELAYED ENGAGEMENT WITH PRC OFFICIALS TO DETERMINE THE SCOPE OF THE OUTBREAK AND ITS THREAT TO HONG KONG. FOLLOWING HER RESIGNATION, SHE JOINED THE WHO AS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASES. CHAN RECENTLY TOOK A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM THAT JOB TO SEEK THE DIRECTOR GENERAL POSITION. LOCAL MEDIA REPORTED THAT SHE FLEW TO BEIJING ON JULY 27 TO DISCUSS HER CANDIDACY STRATEGY WITH MAINLAND OFFICIALS FROM THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. ¶3. (U) SOME LOCAL MEDIA HAVE REPORTED THAT CHAN IS LIKELY TO FACE STRONG COMPETITION FOR THE WHO POSITION. ACCORDING TO THE "SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST," HOWEVER, THE PRC'S NOMINATION AND STRONG SUPPORT FOR HER CANDIDACY COULD HELP HER WIN THE JOB, PARTICULARLY SINCE THE WHO HAS URGED CHINA TO BE MORE OPEN AND TRANSPARENT IN ITS PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSES. MEDIA REPORTS ALSO NOTE THAT CHAN,S EXPERIENCE IN DEALING WITH HONG KONG,S 1997 OUTBREAK OF H5N1, AS WELL AS THE SARS EPIDEMIC, PROVIDE HER WITH THE EXPERIENCE AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS NEEDED BY THE WHO TO RESPOND TO AND PREVENT FUTURE EPIDEMICS. ¶4. (C) ON JULY 26, DR. MALIK PIERIS, A RENOWNED INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST FROM HONG KONG UNIVERSITY TOLD ECONOFF THAT CHAN WAS AN EXCELLENT CHOICE, GIVEN HER BACKGROUND IN HEALTH PROMOTION AND MANAGEMENT. HE FELT THAT HER ELECTION WOULD BRING CHANGES TO THE WHO,S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MAINLAND, IMPLYING THAT IT COULD BRING MORE OPENNESS. SIMILARLY, PROFESSOR PAUL CHAN OF CHINESE UNIVERSITY, WHO ONCE WORKED UNDER CHAN AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, SAID HER CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE OF ASIA AND EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH MAINLAND OFFICIALS WOULD ENABLE THE WHO TO IMPLEMENT ESSENTIAL POLICIES IN ASIA, A REGION FROM WHICH MANY DISEASES HAVE EMERGED RECENTLY. HE FELT HAVING A PERSON FROM HONG KONG IN THE POSITION WOULD FACILITATE COMMUNICATION AND TRUST BETWEEN CHINA AND THE WHO. HOWEVER, BOTH CONTACTS EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT HER ABILITY TO WIN THE POSITION, NOTING THAT SHIGERU OMI OF JAPAN ALSO HAS GOOD CHANCES OF ASSUMING THE POST. NONETHELESS, DR. THOMAS TSANG OF HONG KONG,S CENTRE FOR HEALTH PROTECTION NOTED ON JULY 27 THAT MANY IN THE CENTRE WERE PLEASED TO LEARN OF HER NOMINATION AND BELIEVED THAT SHE HAD THE ABILITY TO GARNER THE INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT NEEDED TO WIN THE POSITION. ¶5. (C) ALTHOUGH THERE IS MUCH SUPPORT IN HONG KONG FOR CHAN'S NOMINATION, VOICES OF DISSENT CAN ALSO BE HEARD. LEGCO MEMBER DR. KWOK KA KI PUBLICLY SUPPORTED HER NOMINATION, BUT ALSO URGED HER TO LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES SHE MADE DURING THE SARS CRISIS. MEANWHILE, HONG KONG PATIENTS' RIGHTS ASSOCIATION SPOKESMAN TIM PANG PUBLICLY STATED THAT HIS ORGANIZATION WAS CONCERNED ABOUT CHAN,S ABILITY TO MANAGE A GLOBAL HEALTH CRISIS, GIVEN THE DIFFICULTY SHE HAD IN RESPONDING TO THE SPREAD OF SARS FROM GUANGDONG TO HONG KONG. HE PRIVATELY TOLD ECONOFF THAT SUPPORT FOR HER NOMINATION CAME LARGELY FROM THE HKSAR AND PRC GOVERNMENTS, WHILE SOME SARS VICTIM GROUPS AND SOME LEGCO MEMBERS RETAIN STRONG RESERVATIONS ABOUT HER CANDIDACY. HE NOTED THAT OMI OF JAPAN IS A STRONG CONTENDER FOR THE POSITION, BECAUSE HE ALSO HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN DEALING WITH REGIONAL EPIDEMICS. PANG ALSO BELIEVES THAT HAVING A CHINESE NATIONAL AS DIRECTOR GENERAL WILL NOT NECESSARILY LEAD TO INCREASED WILLINGNESS BY CHINESE AUTHORITIES TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION ON DISEASE RATES. HE NOTED THAT THE MAIN PROBLEM LIES IN THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND OPENNESS IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, AN ISSUE WHICH NEITHER CHAN NOR OMI WOULD BE ABLE TO ADDRESS EFFECTIVELY. BUT, HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HAVING HER IN THE POSITION COULD HELP IMPROVE THE SOUR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PRC AND THE WHO THAT DATES BACK TO THE SARS EPIDEMIC. MULLINS