Taiwan, stung by its 11th rejection for WHO membership, warned yesterday of the global health consequences its absence from the international agency might cause.
On Monday, the WHO voted 148 to 17 in Geneva to bar Taiwan once again -- despite a vigorous campaign by Taipei -- after China asked its allies to block the bid.
"If the WHO refuses to provide us with necessary information or enter into cooperation with us, and a gap is consequently created in the global disease control system, then the organization and [China] should be held fully responsible," the Government Information Office said in a statement yesterday.
China, meanwhile, hailed the vote as a victory in its effort to claim sovereignty over Taiwan.
"As the World Health Organization is an organ of the United Nations open to sovereign nations, Taiwan has no basic status to join," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The vote "fully shows the common recognition by the international community of the `one China' policy," the ministry said.
Beijing also confirmed yesterday that it is discussing a second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the WHO regarding Taiwan's inclusion in the latest version of the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005.
While claiming that the second MOU would be more "extensive" than the first one that was signed in 2005, Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang (高強) blamed Taiwan for impeding the drafting of the memo by opposing the `one China' policy.
"We have been discussing with the WHO Taiwan's inclusion in the IHR, but face difficulties in proceeding because Taiwan has adopted an attitude of not admitting, accepting or cooperating with the `one China' policy," Gao said at a Monday night press conference in Geneva immediately after Taiwan's bid was rejected.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆) and Department of Health Director Hou Sheng-mou (侯勝茂) later rebuffed Gao's remarks, accusing Beijing of defining Taiwan as a province in discussions of Taiwan's inclusion in IHR (2005).
"China is trying to limit Taiwan's inclusion in IHR (2005) in the second MOU ? It is impossible for Taiwan to accept being treated as a Chinese province and discuss the issue with it," Hou said in Geneva.
IHR (2005), which will be implemented on June 15, includes "universal application" -- allowing it to cover all the world's people, including the people of Taiwan.
Yang said China is planning to exchange letters with the WHO to solve the issue -- and that Taiwan strongly opposed Beijing's interference in the matter.
Yang demanded that the WHO address the issue by exchanging letters with Taiwan's Center for Disease Control instead.
While China promised in the 2005 memo that Taiwan would be allowed "meaningful participation" in WHO technical meetings, it demanded that Taiwan's technical exchanges with the organization be arranged through Beijing and any contact WHO had with Taiwan be cleared with the Chinese delegation in Geneva at least five weeks in advance.
Taiwan said the 2005 MOU was a "cheating, secret agreement," and accused Beijing of refusing to allow Taiwanese experts to take part in WHO technical meetings.
Gao said China had never refused to allow Taiwanese health experts to take part in such meetings, but it would not allow Taiwanese government officials to join inter-government meetings.
"Drafting a second MOU doesn't mean the first one wasn't good enough. No matter how many memorandums there are, our goal is to allow Taiwan to join more technical meetings," Gao said.
Yang said Taiwan would not accept any arrangement or designation that denigrates its status as an independent sovereign country.
In Taipei, President Chen Shui-bian (
"It is clear that Taiwan is a country," he said. "Although many countries do not recognize us as a country, it does not change the fact that we are one. It is a fact and the status quo that nobody can deny."
Chen made the remarks while meeting senior staff from the nation's embassies and representative offices.
Taiwan is a country even if it is denied accession to the WHO or the UN, Chen said. If Taiwan were not a country, nobody would be its president, he said.
Chen said he was glad the WHA spent hours discussing Taiwan's application, although the final outcome was disappointing.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS