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.
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