The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Friday supporting Taiwan's "appropriate and meaningful" participation in the World Health Organization (WHO).
The resolution, if signed by President Bill Clinton, would compel Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to report to Congress before the end of the year on efforts made by the US toward allowing Taiwan's increased participation in international organizations for which statehood is not a requirement.
As part of its 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, the Clinton administration promised to actively support Taiwan's membership in international organizations that accept non-states as members.
The resolution passed on Friday states that Taiwan should have "appropriate and meaningful participation in the World Health Organization," although it stops short of calling for full-fledged membership.
It cites recent advancements in Taiwan's public health system, as well as the willingness of both the Taiwan government and its medical establishment to participate in the organization's activities.
Responding to the resolution's passage, the Department of Health applauded the resolution yesterday, and thanked Taiwan lobby groups as well as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington for its efforts toward pushing for its successful passage.
Groups such as the Medical Professionals' Alliance in Taiwan (醫界聯盟) have been pushing for Taiwan's participation in the WHO for many years, arguing that health is a basic human right, and that the issue of Taiwan's participation should not be linked to politics.
Over the past two years, Taiwan has been hit by two major epidemics, both of which have had implications for national health and the economy.
A bout of foot-and-mouth disease wiped out much of the island's pork export market in the spring of 1997, during which 2.85 million pigs either died or were put to death.
Later the same year, an outbreak of enterovirus-71 -- a stomach virus affecting mostly youngsters -- left dozens of children dead before being brought under control.
The impact of both, experts argue, could have been lessened if Taiwan had been able to participate in the WHO.
Taiwan's entry into the world body faces the same problems it does with other organizations, namely objections from China, and the adherence by its allies to the "one China" policy.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2