The outcome of Taiwan’s bid for observer status at World Health Assembly (WHA) in May will serve as an important indicator of whether the development of cross-Taiwan Strait relations can be normalized, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言), quoting President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), said that if Taiwan continues to be isolated from the meeting, it would be impossible for Taiwan and China to foster normal links.
Since taking office last May, Ma has pursued a diplomatic policy with China that has sidestepped the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty in an effort to build closer ties and mitigate Beijing’s objections to the country’s international participation.
Failure to gain meaningful participation in the WHA would be considered by some observers as a repudiation of Ma’s policy.
But given the improved cross-Taiwan Strait climate, Hsia said Taiwan has a “better chance” for success this year to become an observer at the WHA, which is the top decision-making arm of the WHO.
The “widespread international recognition of Ma’s pragmatic approach to seek ‘meaningful participation’ rather than full membership” in UN-affiliated agencies has also brightened Taiwan’s prospects of achieving the goal, he added.
Once the objective is accomplished, Hsia said the government would explore opportunities to take part in other WHO activities such as meetings of the organization’s expert committees.
Since 1997, Taiwan has tried to gain observer status at the WHA but has not succeeded because of China’s interference and objections.
In 2007, it applied for full WHO membership under the name “Taiwan” for the first time, but the bid failed again because of opposition from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and contends Taiwan is not a sovereign state, as is required for WHO membership.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow