The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening its annual World Health Assembly (WHA) later this month in Geneva. So President Chen Shui-bian (
Because this platform does not involve the conflict over Taiwan's national sovereignty, and because Chen's re-election has established Taiwan as a model for democracy in Asia, the international community should accord Taiwan just and fair treatment on this issue. The international community cannot continue to bow to China's unreasonable pressure and keep isolating Taiwan and its people.
Despite support from the US and Japan, Taiwan's attempts to win WHO membership were pre-empted for the seventh time at the WHA meeting last June.
Few have forgotten how China's representative to the UN in Geneva, Sha Zukang (
Last year, the Chinese dictators concealed the SARS outbreak and created a global epidemic that caused great economic and social harm in many countries, and particularly in Taiwan.
As the SARS epidemic hit Taiwan and created a need for international assistance, Beijing claimed SARS was a domestic issue and kept the WHO and other international medical organizations from helping Taiwan. China's Vice Premier Wu Yi (
When Taiwan's lonely fight against SARS was won and it was willing to share its experiences and medical resources with other countries, Beijing applied further pressure to keep Taiwan's health officials and organizations from participating in international medical meetings. China relied on its satellite states to block Taiwan's accession to the WHO.
This treachery showed Taiwan's people the Chinese leadership's true colors. But it also lent legitimacy to Chen's decision to hold the nation's first-ever referen-dum, and it helped the Democratic Progressive Party find a major theme for its presidential election campaign -- holding hands to protect Taiwan and to defy China's threats.
China cannot have expected that its suppression of Taiwan's attempts to gain WHO entry would mark the beginning of a new Taiwanese consciousness.
Almost a year later, Sha's poisonous question continues to have unintended positive effects. Chen and Taiwanese consciousness won the presidential election with a majority of the vote.
During the campaign, even China-friendly politicians from the anti-independence Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party were forced to criticize China and use strong language to warn Beijing against further offending Taiwan's people.
Further from home, EU countries now follow the US and Japan in expressing their support for Taiwan's democratic achievements. These allies are willing to help Taiwan participate in the international community on normalized and equal terms.
Will the Chinese government finally wake up and accept Taiwanese mainstream opinion? Beijing often claims to pin its hopes on Taiwan's people.
The WHA offers China a great opportunity to turn savagery into benevolence and political considerations into human concern. We hope that Beijing's new generation of leaders will see that continuing its past tough approach will only further alienate the Taiwanese people.
A humane and sensible approach would reflect the demeanor of a great power. But if China persists in its old bullying attitudes, Taiwan's year-end legislative elections will result in yet another slap to Beijing's face.
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of