British and US representatives during a WHO meeting on Friday voiced support for Taiwan’s participation in the global health organization, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“We recognize the need to strengthen vaccine confidence, and to address the role of mis- and disinformation. Accelerating vaccine uptake and demand is critical to achieving COVID-19 vaccination goals, to future emergency responses and to ongoing efforts to combat vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Loyce Pace, assistant secretary for global affairs at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
“In this regard, the United States appreciates the example of Taiwan in its COVID-19 response as well as its support to many around the world. We urge WHO to be fully inclusive of all partners, including Taiwan, as we take our collective work forward in responding to global health emergencies,” she said.
Photo: Reuters
According to information provided by the ministry, Danny Andrews, head of the health division at the British Permanent Mission to the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland, told Friday’s meeting that “we also stress the inclusivity in WHO’s governance, given the impact of global health emergencies, we must draw on all voices and everyone with experiences to share to deal with health emergencies.”
Diplomatic ally the Marshall Islands expressed gratitude to Taiwan during the meeting.
“The Marshall Islands wishes to extend its most sincere gratitude once again to the WHO, and the numerous donor countries and partners such as the United States, the Republic of China (Taiwan) for their continued support and assistance to the Marshall Islands,” said Samuel Lanwi, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Marshall Islands to the UN Office in Geneva.
The ministry said that over the past few days allies, including St Kitts and Nevis, Nauru, Haiti, Honduras and Paraguay, have voiced support for Taiwan joining the WHO as an observer.
Officials representing Japan and the EU have also called on the WHO to be more inclusive.
Hiroki Nakatani, an adviser from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, said that “it is important not to make a geographical vacuum by creating a situation where a specific region cannot join WHO as an observer of WHA,” referring to the World Health Assembly, the decisionmaking body of the WHO.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS