From September 10 to 11, the Sub-session on Advanced Technology of the 2020 Taihe Civilizations Forum was held online. Focusing on the theme of “Maintaining Global Biosecurity with Emerging Technologies and Innovative Mechanisms”, experts and representatives of enterprises working in the fields of biomedicine and biosecurity, digital and information technology, and ethics and governance from China, the U.S., Germany, Australia and other countries gathered to take part in in-depth discussions and exchanges on how to deal with biosecurity threats in the global context, and the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for biosecurity and social governance.

The pandemic highlights the global biosecurity threats and challenges facing humanity. Mr. Wang Yumin, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute, Chairman of the Fourth Council of the Chinese Foundation for Prevention of STD and AIDS and former Deputy Minister of Health at the General Logistics Department of the PLA, pointed out that there were three major biosecurity risks facing China. That is the risk of biological attack, the risk of infectious diseases and the risks from biotechnology. In the field of biosecurity, China faces three major challenges, namely, biological attacks, natural fatal diseases, and technological risks. In face of all these risks and challenges, China needs to integrate its approaches to deal effectively with the threats from bioinfectious diseases, bioterrorism and biological weapons.

In face of biosecurity threats, participants in the forum proposed their views and identified specific technical solutions aimed at improving the capabilities of social management and governance during a period of crisis. Mr. Gu Boping, Chief Cultural Scholar of the Taihe Institute, believes that only with a positive, proactive and appropriate attitude, can we solve the current problems and truly improve the governing capacity of biosecurity on a global scale. Both attitudes and effective methods matter in this process. Mr. Zhang Zhuting, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute and Director of the Development Research Center of the Transport Management Institute of the Ministry of Transport of China, thought that smart transportation had played an important role in supporting the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it has reduced the amount of contact between people; second, it has improved the traffic efficiency; and third, it has lowered the cost. Mr. Zhang Jianwei, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Hamburg, Professor of the Department of Information Science and Director of the TAMS Institute of the University of Hamburg, Germany, said that artificial intelligence (AI) and robots should be used more frequently in the therapeutic treatment of major diseases, including sampling, analysis, diagnosis, treatment, service, and delivery. By making full use of supercomputing centers and big data, AI robots could conduct more accurate quantitative analysis and provide a reference for scientific decision-making in emergency management. Mr. Wang Jie, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute and Chairman and CEO of Cerno Inter, said that the development of the Chinese Internet of Things (IoT) companies in recent years had remarkably advanced the application of big data, AI, blockchain and other technologies. China had already laid the technical foundations for establishing a more efficient and secure mobilization platform for emergency materials jointly between military logistics and civilians and controlled by local governments. Mr. Cui Jianyi, Director Assistant of Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, pointed out that the construction of containerized and modularized emergency medical centers would gradually become a major trend in the future. At the same time, we must also consider modular applications, including the setting up of some medical units. Yin Ye, CEO of Beijing Genomics Institute, stated that the public health output enabled by the building of nucleic acid testing capabilities is a new model for China to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for human health care.

During the pandemic, China’s social governance has also faced various challenges brought about by public opinion. Mr. Peng Bo, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute, Director of PKU Internet Institute (Shenzhen), and former Vice Director of National Internet Information Office, proposed that to guide responsible online public opinion when national health emergencies occur, we need to conduct gentle guidance on public opinion and make suitable adjustments in due course. A good story is stronger than a hundred of slogans. In order to ensure proper management of public opinion, we must learn to advertise fewer doctrines and give more detailed stories to the public. Like spring drizzle falling without a sound, we should distribute information in a gentle and lively way that could be understood and welcomed by the majority. Mr. Zeng Hui, Director of the Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, said that the integrated information could be passed to the public after discussion and cooperation between professional teams in various fields, as a result of which, professional knowledge could play an important role in the guidance of public opinion.

Biosecurity systems rely closely on the support of technological ethics, laws and regulations. In the social practice of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Chen Zhimin, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute (Distinguished), Former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China and President of the China Association for Friendship, stated the fight against the pandemic once again proves the rationality of these basic principles: data ownership resides in the people, sovereignty in the country, and right to use in enterprises. However, the real implementation and embodiment of data ownership in socio-economic activities and various legal systems depend on the improvement of citizens’ awareness of data, the enhancement of the rule of law in the country and the effective practice of enterprises. By combining these three factors, corresponding rules, standards, norms, laws, systems would be formed. Mr. Yu Yang, Fellow of the Taihe Institute and CEO of Global Tone Communication Technology Co., Ltd. also stated that we need to utilize big data technology to establish strict management measures and regulations to guarantee the security and privacy of biomedical big data.

Some experts had expressed their views on the role of science and technology in social development, including pandemic prevention and control. Mr. Andrew Schwartz, Executive Vice President of the Institute for Ecological Civilization, USA, Executive Director of the Center for Process Studies, USA, and Assistant Professor at Willamette University, USA, said that if we simply rely on vaccines and technical solutions without thinking about those underlying issues, it may be difficult to uproot the pandemic. Mr. Wang Zhihe, Executive Vice President of the Institute for the Postmodern Development of China, USA, and Co-director of the China Project, Center for Process Studies, USA, also pointed out that science is to blame for today’s ecological crisis. Modern science serves industrial civilization, whose decline will cause the decay of modern science. Mr. David A. Schwerin, President of the Institute for Ethical Awareness, USA, and Honorary Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Research Center, USA, stated that the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change have destabilized our lives and led to precarious imbalances. Accelerated development destroys natural habitat, and also upsets the natural balance of species, which endangers human life as a whole. Mr. John B. Cobb, Jr., Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Founding President of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China, USA, pointed out that we urgently need to build a post-modern ecological civilization and find a way to locate human society in the whole ecosystem. Countries need to devote themselves to the construction of ecological civilization to achieve better lives for their people. Mr. Arran Gare, professor of Philosophy and Cultural Inquiry at the Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, and Chief Editor of the Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, believed that modern medicine in the West relies too much on high technologies, without giving patients enough care and attention. On the contrary, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), in a more holistic and comprehensive way, focuses more on patients’ feelings.

As for the future development and control management of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, Mr. Wu Zunyou, Chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the pandemic could return, as long as prevention and control measures are inadequate and slack. The high incidence of other respiratory infections in the fall and winter could complicate the diagnosis, prevention and control of the COVID-19. However, we have been granted new ways to contain the pandemic thanks to the application of new technologies. He said that China is confident and capable of bringing possible outbreaks under control in a short period of time. Mr. Li Xingwang, Chief expert at the Infectious Disease Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Research Centers, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, said that it is necessary to correctly understand the “normalization of the prevention and control of the pandemic”, which is a long-term task during which, the economy has to grow and people have to move and communicate. Therefore, the normalization should be dynamic, with constant assessment and different approaches based on the actual situation.

In face of the changed international situation under the impact of the pandemic, Ms. Susan Pertel Jain, Director of Global Relations Center for MEMES, UCLA Anderson School of Management, suggested that if we are to take on these existential challenges facing us, including environmental destruction, we need to change people’s way of life and thinking, as well as behaviors on a global scale. Mr. Wendell Wallach, Emeritus Chair of Technology and Ethics studies at Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, and Senior Advisory to The Hastings Center, believed that Europe is trying to assert a bigger role and establish ethical standards for the emerging technologies and it is hoped that China could become a much more active player in that area, particularly given the fact that China leads the development of digital technologies and biotechnologies. Thorsten Jelinek, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute, Director of the Taihe Institute Europe Center, and former Associate Director at the World Economic Forum, said there are big differences between the U.S. and China, and between the Western world and China. But we cannot focus on the strategic competition as a way forward. Instead, we must focus on cooperation as the basis. But the whole policy debate has moved from cooperation to competition and confrontation, which is pretty dangerous.

In concluding the forum, Yi Di, Fellow and Vice Chairman of the Taihe Institute, said that, through the two-day online sub-session, the participants had reached a consensus that in order to deal with biosecurity threats and challenges, and improve biosecurity governance capabilities, we should not only leverage the power of science and technology, but also, more importantly, change our thinking and behavior patterns, and deal with interpersonal relationships as well as the relationship between human beings and the nature, in order to address the biosecurity issues we face with systematic understanding and solutions. The Sub-session on Advanced Technology focuses on biosecurity and the prevention as well as social governance of bio-crises, with the original aspiration of leading a better life and avoiding ecological disasters. Although mankind could not be immune to natural disasters, through cooperation and mutual help, the use of science and technology, and improved governance and innovative mechanisms, all countries would be able to live better with nature and with themselves, and be prepared to meet all challenges in the future.