Another hospital in Taipei -- the Jen Chi Hospital -- was closed on Tuesday after suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) were found there. Ironically, after spreading SARS to the people of Taiwan, China still continues to block this country's efforts to join the global medical establishment. What is even more deplorable is that even the World Health Organization (WHO) has been kidnapped by Beijing.
The WHO Web site has now become a political mouthpiece of Beijing's. The Web site lists Taiwan under "China" along with Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing. We know that this is China's political untruth. Taiwan has its own land, people, effective government and independent sovereignty. It is not under China's jurisdiction.
Experts throughout the world are suspicious about the SARS information provided by the Chinese government, believing that the official figures are only a fraction of the true numbers. In contrast, they view the information provided by Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places as far more reliable.
After the SARS outbreak began in Guangdong last year, the Chinese authorities repeatedly snubbed the WHO when it asked to send experts to investigate the disease. Under political pressure from China, the WHO buried its head in the sand and swallowed Beijing's political propaganda, relaying whatever Beijing said. WHO's behavior -- helping China disseminate misinformation on its official Web site -- has pushed the organization even further from its objectives.
The biggest blind spot in international politics is that Beijing has been allowed to expand its political leverage on the basis of China's questionable "market potential." Many times, at critical moments, the international community has played an accomplice's role in the oppression of Taiwan. Anyway, expectations that have not come true are called potential. As long as China is poor, it has potential.
Health care should be something that transcends national boundaries and political fences. Unfortunately, the WHO would rather gang up with China and ignore the rights of 23 million people to proper health care. It would rather attach a political tag on the people of Taiwan. One wonders how an international organization supposedly dedicated to humanitarian care could be so cold and unjust in its treatment of the people of this country.
The government has repeatedly asked to join WHO on the basis of humanitarian principles so that the nation's health difficulties can be eased and so it can also share its resources. The SARS outbreak has highlighted the urgent need to let Taiwan into the health body. Taiwan has gained considerable experience in SARS prevention and the treatment of SARS patients. This experience is worth sharing with medical workers in other countries. In the fight against SARS Taiwan will inevitably face difficulties and will urgently need close exchanges with other countries. The WHO is the best platform and forum for such international exchanges.
Since ancient times, epidemics have inflicted enormous casualties on humanity, but mankind has made it through such ordeals. But there's a catch -- the WHO's lack of courage to face up to reality, which has prompted it to condone China's wanton behavior and to isolate Taiwan.
But the people of this nation are not afraid. Nor are they angry with the WHO's ridiculous acts. Heaven helps those who help themselves. But we still can't help wondering whether the WHO is a global body or a Chinese organization.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to