Opinion

For an Israel-Gaza remedy, take a leaf from Chinese medical thinking

Chinese medicine treats the cause, not the symptoms. The US’ response to the war is dictated by its election cycle, and risks inflaming all Muslims

In contrast, China plays the long game and its approach is to work with multipolar vital forces to maintain balance

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Lub Bun Chong is a partner of C Consultancy and Helios Strategic Advisors, and the author of “Managing a Chinese Partner: Insights From Four Global Companies”.

Published: 5:30am, 17 Nov 2023Updated: 5:56am, 17 Nov 2023

Humanity is ill with a number of serious conditions. The latest severe flare-up is the Israel-Gaza war, and Chinese medicine, which has been practised for thousands of years, offers useful insights into a remedy.

In simple terms, an illness occurs when the body’s qi – the complementary vital forces of yin and yang – is in disharmony, and this imbalance shows up as symptoms. To be effective, a Chinese remedy treats the cause, not the symptoms, and this is achieved by restoring the harmony and balance of the vital forces.

Chinese medicine may sound unscientific or even irrational, but it is actually well chronicled in data and research. Inscriptions about illness on bones date back to the Shang dynasty in the second millennium BC, and the earliest medical text was compiled during the Warring States period (475-221 BC).

In geopolitics, the vital forces of Israel-Gaza are out of balance, and as with any illness, the remedy starts with a diagnosis of the symptoms: the Hamas terrorist attacks and kidnappings, which triggered Israel’s response of collective punishment and ground invasion of Gaza.