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
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
RSS