The 144th WHO executive board meeting opened on Thursday. In the past few years, I have proposed that the government lobby Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and like-minded countries to push for a formal proposal at the annual board meetings.
There are three reasons for this.
First, Taiwan needs to show strong discontent over its exclusion from the WHO, for silence could be treated as acquiescence or indifference to this critical issue.
Therefore, Taiwanese should not give up any opportunities to enhance the visibility of the issue on the international arena, especially at meetings as important as the executive board meeting, since it decides the agenda of the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) sessions.
Taiwan should act as early as possible, instead of waiting until the WHA meets in May.
Second, even if the proposal is not passed at the executive board meeting, each proposal, debate and vote is put on record. As a result, China would have to mobilize its resources to veto Taiwan-related proposals and the friction between China and international society would grow.
Last but not the least, Taiwanese must be flexible at all times, since there should not be too much formality in strategies to promote the Taiwan issue with the WHO. Instead, ever-changing current events should be adapted to.
For instance, African swine fever has gained global attention. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) statement about taking Taiwan by force, should peaceful blandishments at the beginning of this year fail, has also stirred a global backlash.
In a nutshell, this year is the best time to push for a formal proposal at the executive board meeting.
However, due to the adjustment of the meeting’s rules of procedure, the global political landscape and limited diplomatic resources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced that it did not plan to push for a formal proposal at the meeting this year.
Although it is certainly a disappointment for Taiwanese, I can understand the minstry’s position.
The executive board meeting is sometimes sarcastically called “the second WHA,” due to its inefficiency, therefore, the WHO adjusted the meeting’s rules of procedure at the beginning of last year and demanded that its agenda be streamlined so that it could be shorter and focus on technical issues.
In light of the above, Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and like-minded partners would face more pressure than before when it comes to a formal proposal at the executive board meeting.
On the other hand, given newly formed international relations due to the US-China trade dispute and concerns about meaningful use of limited diplomatic resources, a small country, such as Taiwan, ought to be much more flexible and wise when it establishes vertical and horizontal strategies with bigger states.
China has been stopping at nothing to pressure Taiwan and other countries. Since last year, China has threatened airlines from different countries and multinational corporations to change their designation of Taiwan.
On Nov. 25 last year, Chinese research institutes published the Blue Book on Rule of Law in Cyberspace, which said that 66 foreign companies, including Apple, Nike, Amazon and Siemens, should change their designation of Taiwan, otherwise they would be severely punished by law.
Apart from blocking Taiwan’s participation in the 71st WHA and 87th Interpol general assembly last year, China secretly obstructed the government’s US$1 million donation to the WHO for epidemic prevention.
Despite the many difficulties that lie ahead regarding the nation’s participation in the WHO, Taiwanese should not be discouraged.
On Wednesday last week, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that directs the US secretary of state to help Taiwan regain observer status at the WHA.
The bill says that Taiwan attended the WHA as an observer since 2009 and received the same invitation each year until 2016, when, following the election of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan’s engagement in the international community began facing increased resistance from China.
Taiwan’s invitation to the WHA in 2016 was received late and it did not receive an invitation to the WHA in 2017 or last year. Hence, the bill asks the US secretary of state to establish a strategy and to report annually to the US Congress on efforts to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the WHA.
It was regrettable that the ministry decided not to lobby allies and like-minded countries to push for a formal proposal at the executive board meeting, due to the unstable global political situation and limited diplomatic resources.
However, as the US is showing strong support for Taiwan, Taiwanese ought to unite and call each country to support the nation’s participation in WHO.
The Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan, which has been promoting Taiwan’s participation in the WHO for 22 years, will continuously make efforts in this regard and will not pass up on any chances to provide a voice for Taiwan on the international stage, since the nation is in need of flexible diplomatic strategies.
Lin Shih-chia is executive director of the Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan and a former legislator.
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