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Frist backs Taiwan's WHO bid

US Senate majority leader Bill Frist expressed his support for Taiwan's WHO bid as he wrapped up a brief visit to Taiwan yesterday and headed for Beijing, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) said.

"Frist has expressed his regrets over our exclusion from the WHO, and he vowed to help us in the US Senate," Chien said before he received Frist and his delegation of Senators for a lunch reception at the ministry.

"Yesterday he [Frist] said Taiwan should participate in WHO, even as an observer. It's not only advantageous to the international organization but also to us," Chien said.

For the past six years, Taiwan has, through its diplomatic allies, lobbied to join the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's highest decision-making body, as an observer.

Last year, Taipei for the first time pressed its case to join the WHA as a "health entity" in an attempt to dilute the sensitivity of the issue.

An aide to Frist said the Senate majority leader had expressed his "continuous support" for Taiwan's WHO bid during his visit to Taipei, although he did not mention any specifics.

But according to a DPP press release, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in his capacity as the DPP chairman told grassroots supporters in Miaoli yesterday that Frist vowed to push for a bill in the Senate to support Taiwan's WHO bid.

Chen said Frist felt relieved that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) said it was safe to visit Taipei because the country had done well in containing the outbreak of SARS, the press release said.

The Senator also expressed fear about his trip to Beijing, where the number of SARS cases is still rising, Chen said. Beijing is the last leg of the group's Asian tour that has also taken them to Japan and South Korea.

Earlier yesterday, the delegation met with members of the American Chamber of Commerce for breakfast before meeting with KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).

KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said the delegation expressed their concerns about Taiwan's dwindling defense budget in recent years and equivocation over the country's arms purchases, suggesting Taiwan was not taking its defense seriously.

Also in the delegation were Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles and senators Susan Collins, Conrad Burns, Lincoln Chafee, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson and Mark Dayton.

Also see story:
Lien bemoans Chen's policies to US senators
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