A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has launched a crowdfunding campaign to host an exhibition near the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, ahead of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May to showcase the value, achievements and contributions of Taiwan’s public healthcare system.
The exhibition, titled “Hospital Without Borders,” is scheduled to take place from May 19 to May 21, ahead of the 71st WHA from May 21 to May 26.
The Taiwan United Nations Alliance, which has long been pushing for the nation’s participation in the WHO, this year asked Netizen Productions and the Tyzen Hsiao Culture and Education Foundation to cohost the display, exhibition co-curator Wang Yi-kai (王奕凱) said.
They hope to send a message to the international community that “medical treatment knows no borders and that Taiwan would not be absent” from the global effort and discussion, he said.
Netizen Productions in 2015 designed the Taiwan pavilion at the World Expo in Milan, Wang said.
Called a “project of citizen diplomacy” by its creators, “One Pavilion to Go” was set up after Italian authorities offered Taiwan a corporate, rather than national, pavilion at the international event, leading the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to withdraw Taiwan from the exposition.
The cohosts hope that their efforts would help more people to understand and see the reality of China’s suppression of Taiwan in the international community, alliance president Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) and alliance spokesperson Tseng Tsung-kai (曾琮愷) said on Sunday.
The exhibition’s organizers had raised about NT$94,033 as of press time last night on the crowdfunding Web site Zeczec.
They have also invited Taiwanese band TPE48 to endorse the campaign.
The Taiwan Medical Association, Taoyuan General Hospital physician Chen Hou-chuan (陳厚全) and others in the medical field have also expressed their support for the campaign.
After being invited to the WHA as an observer for eight consecutive years since 2009, Taiwan last year did not receive an invitation, likely as a result of Beijing’s efforts to limit Taiwan’s international space after the Democratic Progressive Party administration took office in May 2016.
Taiwan’s chances of being invited to the WHA this year are slim, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) have said.
Chen would lead a delegation to Geneva even if Taiwan does not receive an invitation, the government has said.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
RSS