China and the World Health Organization (WHO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) "facilitating" technical exchanges between Taiwan and the WHO on Saturday, but Taiwanese officials dismissed the agreement as "unacceptable."
It is understood that the Chinese delegation to the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's highest decision-making body, visited WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook and signed the MOU on Saturday afternoon.
Taiwan will launch its ninth bid for observer status in the WHA, which opens today and will run until May 25.
The WHO confirmed Taiwan is designated as "Taiwan, China" in the MOU, which regulates that Taiwan's technical exchanges with the WHO can only be arranged through Beijing.
Taiwanese officials working on the WHO bid in Geneva are trying to understand details of the MOU and evaluate how the agreement, signed only two days prior to the opening of the WHA, will affect Taiwan's application for observership.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it will never accept the MOU if the pact encroaches on Taiwan's sovereignty or denigrates its national status.
The WHO and China showed no respect for Taiwan in the manner they reached the agreement, said Peter Chang (張武修), director-general of the Department of Health's Bureau of International Cooperation.
"China has no power whatsoever over Taiwan's health matters," Chang said.
"China and the WHO Secretariat have been secretly working on the MOU. Many countries have no idea why they were doing that," he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chu Feng-chih (朱鳳芝), in Geneva for Taiwan's health bid, said Beijing has disappointed her.
Chu, who traveled with KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun (
Beijing repeated its "goodwill" towards Taiwan's bid when People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Several senior Chinese officials, including Jia Qinglin (賈慶林), chairman of China's People's Political Consultative Conference, promised the KMT delegation that Beijing's diplomats to discuss with WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook about how to let Taiwan participate in the health body, Chu said.
"But being here in Geneva, we see absolutely no sign of China's goodwill. Its promise to help Taiwan join the WHO is merely words. If China really cares about the Taiwanese people's health, it should show its concern through actions," the legislator said.
"What we see here is that China is blocking our WHO bid in all aspects. We feel very disappointed and find it hard to trust China," Chu said before a dinner with more than 80 leaders of overseas Taiwanese businessgroups, who gathered in Geneva to back Taiwan's bid for entrance into the WHO.
It would be difficult for Taiwan and China to reach peace if they lack mutual trust, Chu said.
"We Taiwanese are not fools. If China really cares about us, it should let us join the WHO as an observer right now," she said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chuang Suo-han (莊碩漢) said in Geneva that many people thought Taiwan might have a better chance to enter the WHO after Lien and Soong's trips to China. "But the reality shows us this is not so," he said.
also see story:
MOU poses a threat to WHO bid, officials say
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS