The EU should not let its "one China" policy restrict it from supporting Taiwan's bid to join the WHO, the head of the Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan said in Brussels on Thursday.
Because of its "one China" policy, the EU has long failed to support Taiwan's efforts to join the world health body, said Wu Shu-min (吳樹民), chairman of the non-profit foundation, which has played a leading role in pushing for Taiwan's WHO accession.
Wu is currently in Brussels to meet with media and medical leaders to drum up support for Taiwan's latest WHO bid.
Speaking at a gathering attended by about 30 media members and medical leaders, Wu noted that the EU has not supported Taiwan's WHO bid, agreeing just to allow "significant participation" by Taiwan in WHO-related activities, apparently because of the EU's "one China" policy.
Pointing out that both the US and Japan have expressed support for Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the WHO's top decision-making body -- as an observer, while at the same time maintaining their "one China" policies, Wu said he doesn't have a clue why the EU has remained inactive on the issue.
"It's a pity that while Taiwan has continued to be excluded when the world needs esprit de corps in the battle against the H5N1 bird flu epidemic, the EU has only been talking about `significant participation' for Taiwan," Wu said.
Wu added that over the past decade, Taiwan has limited itself to only pursuing WHA observer status in an effort to avoid a conflict with China over the sovereignty issue.
"But even this modest request by Taiwan has been rejected," Wu lamented.
Also speaking was Taiwan's representative in Belgium, Michael Kau (高英茂), who said that Taiwan's bid to join the WHO comes at a critical time, pointing out that the report of H5N1 cases in Japan underscores the fact that health threats are not constrained by national borders.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS