The Presidential Office yesterday tried to downplay expectations after reports that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that the country might join the World Health Assembly (WHA) next year, adding that it was the administration’s policy to work toward that goal.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said that the aggressive approach adopted by the former Democratic Progressive Party administration over the past eight years had proven unfeasible and impractical.
With the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in power, a more flexible strategy will be used, Wang said.
The odds of joining the international body should be higher as a result of the new government’s approach, he said.
As Ma has said that “Chinese Taipei” would be a suitable name to apply to the body, Wang yesterday said that the proposed name was an option and that it could be the bottom line.
“But the bottom line is not necessarily the name we will use,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be responsible for mapping out a plan for application.
Wang made the remarks in response to reports published in several Chinese-language newspapers quoting Ma as saying that there should be hope for Taiwan to participate in the WHA next year. Ma made the remarks during a visit to the ministry on Monday.
Wang said yesterday that Ma was merely talking about the change of foreign policy and he expected to see the ministry formulate concrete measures and put them into practice.
Ma’s foreign policy of modus vivendi is working, Wang said, and improvements in cross-strait relations were proof.
Under a foreign policy based on “reconciliation” and “diplomatic truce” with Beijing and improvement of cross-strait relations, Wang said it was foreseeable that the odds of joining the WHA would better.
However, he did not mention the campaign to join the WHO.
Since 1997, Taiwan has sought to re-enter the organization by applying for observer status at the WHA, the supreme decision-making body of the WHO.
Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po newspaper reported that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Chairman Wang Yi (王毅) had said that although China would continue to block Taiwan’s applications to the WHO, it would look into setting up an international network that would be a “new framework” independent of the WHO to include Taiwan in information on disease outbreaks.
Ma announced last night during a state banquet held for Nauruan President Marcus Stephen that the third Taiwan-South Pacific Allies leaders’ summit will be canceled.
Citing “time constraints,” Ma said the event, scheduled to take place in Kaohsiung this year, will be held in the Solomon Islands next year.
The summit, established by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), was first held in Palau in 2006.
The country has six Pacific allies.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
Taiwan must act to preempt potential Section 301 investigations as US President Donald Trump moves to a new tariff strategy, following a US Supreme Court ruling that voided tariff measures, an academic said yesterday. Countries running the largest trade surpluses with the US face a growing likelihood of Section 301 investigations, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. Section 301 refers to a provision of the Trade Act of 1974 that allows Washington to impose retaliatory tariffs over perceived unfair trade practices, including the running of large trade surpluses. Because Taiwan has become the fourth-largest source of the US’ trade
People hold incense and pray with offerings in front of Taipei’s Kuanghwa Market yesterday. The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally about welcoming the God of Wealth, during which companies and shops set off firecrackers to celebrate their reopening and pray for good business in the new year.
RSS