President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) requesting to join the international body as a full member under the name "Taiwan," officials said yesterday.
Presidential Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
In addition to applying for World Health Assembly (WHA) observer status and continuing a "meaningful participation" campaign that could allow Taiwan to participate in WHO-related activities, Chiou said that Chen sent a letter on Wednesday on behalf of the Taiwanese people to Hong Kong-born WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (
In the letter, Chen told her that the country would like to become a member of the health agency under the name "Taiwan." Taiwan has previously applied to become an observer at the WHA as a "health entity" -- a term used to skirt the sensitive issue of sovereignty, thereby trying to defuse China's opposition to Taiwan's participation.
Chiou said the change of strategy is based on three considerations.
First, he said, polls showed that 94.9 percent of Taiwanese support the WHO bid and think the country should join the body using the name "Taiwan."
Second, more than half of all legislators have filed a motion asking the government to continue pushing the WHO bid, he said.
Finally, Chiou said, it is necessary for the country to try a new approach to join the WHO after years of frustration caused by China's opposition.
Chiou said the three approaches were equally difficult, but that one more option meant one more opportunity.
When asked whether Japan and the US had been made aware of the new strategy in advance, Chiou said that the US government had been informed, but that Taiwan had not yet received any response from either country.
"We will continue to communicate and negotiate with them," he said. "The formal decision of the US government is to support our bid as a WHA observer, but I believe they must reassess the impact the new approach will have on the US."
Taiwan began trying to gain observer status in 1997, following the US government's recommendation.
Chiou said that the worst-case scenario would be that the secretary-general's office ignores Chen's letter. If that happens, Chiou said the government would exert pressure on the WHO through diplomatic allies and "other forces."
Foreign Minister James Huang (
Huang made the remarks after he presided over a swearing-in ceremony of new directors in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday afternoon.
"I believe that the people of Taiwan are frustrated and unsatisfied with this kind of result," Huang said.
"Therefore, taking a new entry strategy, which is to apply for full membership under the name of `Taiwan' is another approach that Taiwan can make," Huang said.
"Obtaining full membership in the WHO is the best way of protecting the interests of Taiwanese and it would also accentuate Taiwan's sovereignty," he said.
Huang added that Taiwan has made numerous efforts to join the WHO as an observer but has faced continual rejection because of China.
Moreover, Huang said, China and the WHO signed a memorandum of understanding in 2005 that indicated Taiwan has to use the name "Taiwan, China" to participate in the technical meetings held by the organization, and that only Beijing can consent to Taiwan attending these meetings.
"It has downgraded Taiwan to a part of China. It is meaningless for Taiwan to continue to call for participation in that respect," Huang said.
"We expect the WHO to deal with Taiwan's application fairly, and we also urge people not to over-interpret and politicize the name issue," he said.
Meanwhile, People First Party Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) yesterday criticized the government for the move.
"It is beneath our dignity to drop the nation's official name, `Republic of China,' and use the name `Taiwan' instead. It will complicate matters," Chang said.
The president's purpose is to create an issue that favors the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) election campaign, not to fight for the country's interests, he claimed.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Kuo Lin-yung (
"The DPP government finally realized that using the name `Taiwan' is what it ought to do, and that it is the only way to make Taiwan become a normal country," he said, calling on the DPP government to come up with a plan to rejoin the UN under the name of Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS