Early last month, Taiwan received an invitation from the WHO to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA). The invitation contained some rude and objectionable political wording that provoked a lot of discussion about how to lodge a protest with the UN health agency.
The invitation was addressed to then-minister of health and welfare Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌), with then-minister-designate Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) writing to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) to say that he would attend the WHA.
Executive Yuan spokesman Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said at the time that the objectionable wording of the invitation had nothing to do with Taiwan’s participation in the WHA.
This is what one might call “protest by denial.”
However, when Lin arrived in Switzerland and spoke from the WHA podium, he made no protest whatsoever, and even said he was representing “Chinese Taipei,” which caused an uproar in Taiwan.
Consequently, the only real protest that took place was made by private groups and individuals holding placards on the streets of Geneva.
Is it really so hard to protest? In international affairs, how can a formal protest be made to achieve its purpose?
On the issue of China’s continued expansion in the South China Sea, one of the most affected countries — and one of those with the greatest will to protest — is Vietnam.
On March 18, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UN Nguyen Phuong Nga wrote an open letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Nga wrote the letter in response to an earlier one that China sent to Ban on Jan. 28.
She asked Ban to circulate her letter and an annex to all UN member states.
This was done and the letter was also published on the UN Web site in the agency’s six official languages.
The annex to the letter says that Vietnam’s permanent mission to the UN sent a verbal note to the Chinese permanent mission on Feb. 5, stating Hanoi’s “consistent and irreversible position” on disputes in the South China Sea.
The annex is as follows: “Vietnam has ample legal basis and historical evidence to affirm its indisputable sovereignty over Hoang Sa Archipelago [the Paracel Islands, 西沙群島] and Truong Sa Archipelago [the Spratly Islands, 南沙群島]. Successive Vietnamese governments have peacefully and continuously exercised and defended Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos since at least the 17th century. In 1974 and 1988 respectively, China used force to illegally occupy Hoang Sa Archipelago of Vietnam and some features of Truong Sa Archipelago of Vietnam. Such illegal acts have blatantly violated the Charter of the United Nations and seriously infringed upon the territorial integrity of Vietnam.”
“The civil aviation operations of China violated applicable international rules and regulations in respect of aviation safety and security... This civil aviation operation of China has been brought by Vietnam to the attention of ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization] and the international civil aviation community. Vietnam always adheres to and fulfils its rights and obligations and vehemently condemns and firmly opposes any unilateral action affecting regional peace, security and stability,” it says.
Toward the end of the annex, it says: “Vietnam and other countries strictly complies with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and actively participates in substantive negotiations.”
Taiwan is not a UN member state, but it has the right to object to the WHO director-general’s insertion — on her own initiative — of inappropriate wording in the invitation and without going through the WHO’s normal procedures.
In Lin’s speech at the WHA, he talked about the nation’s ability to independently care for all Taiwanese, its participation in global health affairs and its willingness to share its expertise. These facts are strong evidence of the role Taiwan plays in world health and should serve to ensure the nation’s status as an observer at the WHA.
However, apart from this, the health minister could have used his speech to point out, in a suitable way, that some of the wording in the WHO invitation did not fully respect the reality that most other member states recognize. In so doing, he could have given the script of his address to the delegates attending the WHA and provided them to every attendee through diplomatic channels, justifying Taiwan’s participation at WHO events.
It could also have been submitted to international periodicals and other media for publication.
Over the years, when health ministers attend the WHA, they have taken confidential “letters of protest” that they privately hand to WHO secretariat staff and that is all they did. This sleight of hand is meant to disguise the government’s diplomatic weakness, while compensating for Taiwanese dissatisfaction and calming protests.
However, it only shows that while government officials might know how to fool the public, they lack the skills to promote Taiwan’s status in the international community.
International protests are not confined to words on paper. More important still is to effectively communicate ideas. If President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) government does not wake up soon, it might mean that we will have to go on bowing and scraping to China in May each year, just to buy a five-day ticket to attend the WHA as an observer, while soothing the desire of Taiwanese to take part in the international community.
Chang Wen-liang is a university professor.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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