The Taiwan United Nations Alliance yesterday said it would promote Taiwan’s visibility and publicize the nation’s contributions to global health on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly (WHA), which is to convene in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.
Members of the alliance’s Here I Stand Project, which comprises young Taiwanese dedicated to speaking up for Taiwan at international events, as well as a number of doctors, are to depart for Geneva on Thursday, the alliance told a news conference in Taipei.
They are to join the delegation led by Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) to Geneva, even though Taiwan has not been invited to participate in the WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, for a sixth straight year.
Photo: CNA
Project members would hold a “Taiwan creative exhibition” to introduce Taiwan to the world, as well as attend a party held by the Overseas Community Affairs Council and official forums, association executive director and leader of the mission Chou Te-wang (周德望) said.
Former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) is to give a speech at the forum, titled “From SARS to COVID-19.” Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) is to participate in the forum virtually.
A Polish online influencer known as Stan is to report on the mission’s activities at the event.
Taiwan needs to explain its medical prowess and the contributions it made to other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, because its international space has been continuously suppressed, dentist and mission member Shih Shu-hua (史書華) said.
“The WHA needs Taiwan’s viewpoint,” as the nation can offer more transparent health information than China, Taiwan Statebuilding Party Taipei chapter convener and physician Wu Hsin-tai (吳欣岱) said.
The mission is to carry banners signed by doctors from the Taiwan Medical Association, as well as participating doctors and experts from other countries, to show support for Taiwan, she said.
The association designed a new logo and visual corporate identity to mark its 20th anniversary this year.
The design drew inspiration from a dove of peace and a puzzle, sending the message that “Taiwan is the missing piece of the puzzle” in global health and beyond, association vice president Hung Chia-chun (洪嘉駿) said.
The EU yesterday expressed its support for Taiwan’s participation, with EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spokesperson Nabila Massrali saying that Taiwan’s capabilities in medicine and the energy it puts into world health would bring added value to the WHO’s efforts toward health for all.
In other news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed a delegation of Swedish lawmakers who, during last month’s Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), voiced their support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA.
The delegation comprises Swedish lawmakers Markus Wiechel, Sara Gille, Nima Gholam Ali Pour and Rasmus Giertz, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a six-day visit, the ministry said.
Wiechel, who is the vice president of PACE, authored a declaration during the council’s spring session to “call on the member states of the Council of Europe to work to restore Taiwan’s observer status [at the WHA] as early as possible.”
The document, which garnered 22 signatures, praised Taiwan as “an advanced, engaged, highly capable and responsible member of the global health community,” and called the loss of Taiwan’s contribution in the field “regrettable.”
Taiwan’s relationship with Sweden has become closer in recent years, the ministry said, adding that a delegation of Swedish lawmaker and members of the European Parliament in April last year visited Taiwan, despite China’s opposition.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed concern over China’s military threat to Taiwan in his first address to the Swedish parliament in October last year, it added.
Taiwan will continue to work with Sweden and other like-minded countries to enhance democratic resilience, defend a free and democratic way of life and strive for mutual prosperity, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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 —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
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
RSS