If Lee Ming-liang (
Lee, director-general of the Department of Health, said yesterday that the nation's chances of joining the WHO as an observer this year were in fact "miniscule."
A few weeks ago -- before departing for the annual week-long summit of the WHO assembly in Geneva -- he said he was confident Taiwan's would be successful in its bid.
"I was forced to say that I was optimistic about Taiwan attaining observer status in the World Health Assembly this year to avoid disappointing the public," Lee explained yesterday.
"I had to suppress the impulse to tell the truth with great determination."
Lee said pressure from China on Taiwan's international allies was the key obstacle to Taiwan's entry into the organization.
"Taiwan's participation in the WHO is an extremely complicated political issue," Lee said.
"Many foreign health officials that are Taiwan's friends have no choice but to conform to their countries' [diplomatic] policies when they are at the WHO assembly."
Lee said he was disappointed that the US Senate had failed earlier this month to approve a bill that would require the George W. Bush administration to push for Taiwan's participation in the WHO as an observer.
Approval of the bill by the US House of Representatives in late April had renewed Taiwan's hope for entry into the organization.
The senate passed a watered- down version of the bill on Wednesday, changing the wording "must support" to "should support" Taiwan's efforts to gain observer status.
Lee said he suspected that the strained relations between China and the US might have been responsible for the US' reluctance to agree.
The standoff between the US and China resulting from the Hainan surveillance plane drama in April and US arms sales to Taiwan announced in the same month might have influenced the US' stance.
"The United States could offer further support to Taiwan to declare its fearlessness to China. But on the other hand, it may want to compromise with Beijing on insignificant matters to ease the tension between the two sides," Lee said.
"[To the US], Taiwan's membership in the WHO is an insignificant matter," Lee added.
Susan Stahl, spokeswoman at the American Institute in Taiwan, said that there was no connection between the incidents.
"The United States has a long-standing position on supporting Taiwan's participation in the WHO, and the policy has not changed," Stahl said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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