Taiwan failed in its ninth bid to be included in the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday as the World Health Assembly (WHA) decided not to list Taiwan's WHO bid on its agenda.
After a three-hour long debate on whether to include Taiwan in the WHA's agenda, the WHA's General Committee ruled to exclude the sensitive issue.
During the discussion in the General Committee yesterday, 54 countries spoke up on the issue. Twenty-one countries voiced their staunch support for Taiwan, whereas 33 countries opposed the nation's bid.
Remarkably, two nations without diplomatic ties with Taiwan -- Fiji and Papua New Guinea -- also backed Taiwan's bid.
Meanwhile, on Sunday Malawian Health Minister H.M. Ntaba cast some light on the memorandum of understanding which China and the WHO Secretariat signed to facilitate technical exchanges between Taiwan and the WHO.
According to Ntaba, WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook told a meeting of Commonwealth health ministers that China accepted Taiwan's participation in the WHO, but only as part of China.
Although he did not unveil all details of the memorandum, Lee spent around six minutes introducing it at the beginning of the routine meeting of Commonwealth health ministers on Sunday.
The memo states that Taiwan can only seek technical assistance from the WHO via China, and that the WHO cannot send medical experts to Taiwan without Beijing's permission, Ntaba told Taiwanese reporters before a dinner banquet with delegates of Taiwan's diplomatic allies to the WHA.
"Lee said he hoped the health ministers understood that we now have a chance of getting Taiwan to participate in the WHO," Ntaba said.
After Lee's introduction of the memorandum of understanding, Ntaba raised the question of why the WHO did not discuss the memorandum with Taiwan.
"You must speak to Taiwan and tell us what Taiwan says about it," Ntaba told Lee.
Lee, however, evaded Ntaba's question by saying he would not spend the whole meeting talking about Taiwan.
The way Lee raised the topic of the memorandum of understanding was strange, Ntaba said.
"He was not asked about it. He did not have to talk about it. It was not on the agenda," the health minister said.
Ntaba said Lee probably mentioned the issue because he wanted to "test the waters."
also see stories:
Taiwanese support WHO bid in Geneva
China tries to explain memorandum
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
‘SPECIAL CHANNEL’: Taipei’s most important tasks are to stabilize industries affected by Trump’s trade tariffs and keep negotiations with Washington open, a source said National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) arrived in the US for talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the “special channel,” the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump’s first use of the channel since returning to the White House on Jan. 20. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) was also a part of the delegation. The visit came days after China concluded war games around Taiwan and amid Trump’s
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
HELPING HAND: The steering committee of the National Stabilization Fund is expected to hold a meeting to discuss how and when to utilize the fund to help buffer the sell-off The TAIEX plunged 2,065.87 points, or 9.7 percent, to close at 19,232.35 yesterday, the highest single-day percentage loss on record, as investors braced for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs after an extended holiday weekend. Amid the pessimistic atmosphere, 945 listed companies led by large-cap stocks — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) — fell by the daily maximum of 10 percent at the close, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The number of listed companies ending limit-down set a new record, the exchange said. The TAIEX plunged by daily maxiumu in just
RSS