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.
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