The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation giving the US Senate the power to approve WHO agreements, which also included an amendment supporting Taiwan’s full participation at the WHO.
The No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, which ensures that any pandemic-related convention of the WHO that attempts to bind the US must be ratified by the US Senate as a treaty, cleared the legislative floor by a bipartisan vote of 219-199.
The act was introduced by Republican US Representative Tom Tiffany to limit the WHO’s influence after the body received strong criticism for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Also included in the bill is an amendment proposed by Republican US Representative Andy Ogles that offers a statement of US policy in support of “Taiwan’s full participation at the WHO.”
Ogle’s amendment passed with a unanimous vote of 403-0, with 34 abstentions.
“For far too long, we [the US] have allowed communist China to dictate the course of US foreign policy, as well as the agenda and membership of every major international organization, including the United Nations,” Ogles said.
“Decades upon decades of giving in to China has left Taiwan with fewer and fewer allies. In the late 1990s, over 30 countries recognized Taiwan. Now the number is down to 12,” he added.
Citing China’s continuing pressure campaign against Taiwan, the lawmaker said no one listened when the latter tried to “warn the WHO of possible human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus on Dec. 31, 2019,” adding that the world health body subsequently released a statement saying that there was no clear evidence of such a thing.
Due to this, the US lost weeks of preparation against the “ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” all because “communist China told the world that under no circumstance could Taiwan be given a seat at the table” at the WHO, Ogles said.
His amendment in support of Taiwan was also echoed by Democratic House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, who described Taiwan as a US ally, “a democracy and a critical part of the international community.”
However, Meeks was more reserved about Taiwan’s full participation at the WHO.
“I agree with Mr Ogle’s amendment, but I do think, however, that we should be precise and careful in how we talk about important policy matters,” he said.
“Taiwan should be contributing its expertise and participating as an observer in the World Health Assembly,” as in line with the US’ “one China” policy, he added.
The US House this week has passed several pro-Taiwan bills, including the Pacific Partnership Act, which aims to strengthen cooperation with Taiwan and the Pacific Islands Forum, and the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS