The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will look into why the WHO has made Taiwan the same color as China on its H1N1 influenza global outbreak map, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) told a legislative committee yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said the WHO Web site showed China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as “red,” which means the area has confirmed cases of the flu virus.
Taiwan remains H1N1-free while China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Thailand have all confirmed cases of the virus.
“The government must protest this immediately. This mislabeling has already had an indirect negative impact on Taiwan’s economy,” she said during a meeting of the Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Yeh said the tourism industry had suffered a 40 percent setback because of the pandemic.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) demanded the ministry protest to the WHO over a memorandum of understanding (MOU) it signed with Beijing in 2005 to limit Taiwan’s participation in the organization.
The memorandum says Taiwan’s involvement in the WHO must be approved by Beijing and that all communications between Taiwan and the WHO must be via China.
The government does not recognize the WHO memorandum as valid.
“It is clear that Taiwan’s accession to the World Health Assembly [WHA] this year was an arrangement under the memorandum’s framework. Taiwan’s invitation from the director-general came after Beijing notified the WHO,” Kuan said.
Lin refuted Kuan’s assertion, saying Taiwan’s participation as an observer was a result of Taiwan’s direct consultation with the WHO.
He said he was certain Taiwan’s WHA observer status would be extended.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the ministry had denigrated Taiwan’s sovereignty by not sending an official as part of the delegation to the WHA, which starts on Monday.
Lin said the delegate positions were all given to health experts. However, Paul Chang (章文樑), director-general of the ministry’s Department of International Organizations, would also accompany the delegation to oversee administrative affairs, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said the DPP’s criticism about Taiwan’s WHA participation was due to its envy of the KMT’s achievements.
Any party that cannot recognize the success of another “will never grow up,” he said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS