Taiwan’s former representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday questioned what was left of Taiwan’s sovereignty following the government’s approach in obtaining World Health Assembly (WHA) observer status via China.
Wu made the statements at a symposium organized by the Taiwan Thinktank on the country’s efforts to participate in international organizations.
Wu told the audience that the reason Taiwan’s past applications for WHA observer status were submitted by its allies was that the government had wanted to avoid falling into the “one China” trap. Wu said that this year Taiwan had accepted the “one China” framework and that when it wants to attend future international meetings it will have to obtain approval and an introduction from Beijing.
After 12 failed attempts, Taiwan was invited to attend this year’s WHA as an observer under the designation “Chinese Taipei.”
The government has said the invitation was the result of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy of engaging China, but the Democratic Progressive Party contends that Taiwan’s sovereignty was compromised after a reports of a memorandum of understanding between the WHO and Beijing in 2005 stipulating that communication between the WHO and Taiwan only take place with Beijing’s consent.
Wu also disagreed with Ma’s statement that Taiwan’s admittance to the WHA under the designation “Chinese Taipei” did not denigrate Taiwan’s status because Taiwan uses “Chinese Taipei” when participating in other international organizations.
Although Taiwan participates in the Asian Development Bank, the International Olympic Committee and APEC under the name “Chinese Taipei,” Wu said Taiwan does so as an independent member, but the Ma administration had not clearly said whether Taiwan was an independent attendant at the WHA.
Wu said the government’s unwillingness to let the public know who is talking to China, what they are talking about or what agreements have been reached between the WHO and China have led the public to question whether the government has bargained away Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志) compared the Ma administration’s approach to WHA participation to a variety show, saying that when an actor slipped up, other actors cover up the mistake by cheering and praising the actor’s skills. Chen said that while Taiwan is clearly being belittled, the government hurries to say that it is not.
“Ma may talk about China’s and Taiwan’s ‘mutual non-denial,’ but the correct term should really be ‘mutual non-denial of the other party’s lies,’” he said.
Soochow University political science professor Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that while the government said it had achieved in one year what the previous DPP government could not achieve in eight, the fact was that in one year the Ma administration squandered all previous efforts to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Lo also said the effort to gain WHA participation was like a relay race and that by participating in the WHA via China, Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) had compromised past efforts and “dropped the baton.”
“Such a ‘minister of ignorance’ cannot be forgiven,” Lo said.
Former premier Yu Shyi-kun, another speaker at the forum, said that while Yeh calls himself an anti-SARS hero for setting up office at Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital during the epidemic in 2003, “The people on the front line were the ones worthy of admiration.”
Simply going to the hospital did not qualify anyone to be called a hero, said Yu, who was premier when SARS hit Taiwan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by