The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rejected Beijing's invitation to join the Chinese team in revising the WHO's International Health Regulations, calling the move an attempt to deceive the international community.
Taiwan is seeking to be included in the regulations -- the WHO's only legally-binding instrument for preventing the spread of infectious diseases -- as the UN body's Intergovernmental Working Group began a second-round of revisions of the regulations.
The group's meeting began in Geneva on Monday and will conclude on Saturday. Taiwan, which seeks to gain WHO observer status, failed to be included in the working group's first-round revision of the regulations in November.
The Beijing-based Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention invited officials from Taiwan's Center for Disease Control to join the Chinese delegation before the working group meeting began, according to the foreign affairs ministry.
"China knows we would never send officials to join its delegation. The political motives behind the invitation are more than obvious," the ministry said in a press release.
"Beijing attempted to create the impression that Taiwan is governed by China and that it takes care of the health of the Taiwanese people. The fact is that Taiwan and China do not belong to each other," the statement added.
Wang Hsiu-hung (
"We hope the WHO will respond positively to the request on humanitarian grounds," the ministry said.
China's representative to the UN in Geneva, Sha Zukang (
"The [health regulation] revision meeting is an occasion where Taiwan can actively seek participation in the WHO. There is no reason why Taiwan's 23 million people should be excluded from the network," ministry spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said.
MOFA officials, who requested anonymity, said Taiwan has sought US, Japan and EU help for its inclusion in the meeting.
Taiwan's diplomatic ally Nicaragua has proposed revising Article 65 of the international health regulations to include not only non-member states of the WHO but also "territories" which can enforce codes of practice to prevent the spread of disease under the [health body's] umbrella, the officials said.
If the proposal had passed, Taiwan would have been able to join the meeting as a territory and a "health entity," bypassing the question of Taiwan's disputed status in the international community.
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