Taiwan yesterday denounced China's unilateral announcement that the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005 to be implemented next month applied to its "entire territory," including Taiwan.
"China has no territorial authority over Taiwan. China's announcement was a unilateral remark made without prior consultation with Taiwan," the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday in a statement.
China's Xinhua news agency reported that China submitted a statement to the WHO on Monday night after Taiwan's first bid to apply for full membership in the WHO failed, defining Taiwan as a province and claiming that Beijing's health ministry would be responsible for implementing the IHR in Taiwan.
China also said that it had revised its Frontier Health and Quarantine Law ahead of the IHR's implementation.
The IHR, which will come into force on June 15, is based on the principle of "universal application," meaning it should apply to all the world's people.
The DOH rebutted China's statement, adding that WHO officials said China had not made preparations to implement the IHR on June 15.
The DOH announced to the WHO last May that Taiwan was willing and fully prepared to implement the IHR.
Minister of Health Hou Sheng-mao (侯勝茂) sent a letter to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) on May 2 to reiterate Taiwan's readiness to implement the IHR, listing the Center for Disease Control as the authority to carry out the IHR in Taiwan.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆) said Taiwan demanded to be allowed to implement the IHR as a "non-member state," asking the WHO to communicate with Taiwan directly about the measures.
Representative to Geneva Shen Lu-hsiun (沈呂巡) challenged China's inclusion of Taiwan as part of its territory, as it argued that the IHR would cover Taiwan through China.
Shen cited Article 64 of the IHR and argued that Taiwan was entitled to implement the IHR.
Article 64 stipulates that non-member states of the WHO may participate in the IHR if they have signed international sanitary agreements or regulations as listed in Article 58.
Shen said Taiwan had signed five out of 11 regulations in Article 58 under the name Republic of China (ROC).
"Taiwan is qualified to implement the IHR," he said.
As Taiwan is a major transportation hub in the region with a high volume of air and shipping traffic, Shen said it was in the WHO's interest to include Taiwan in the IHR framework and receive information from Taiwan about any disease outbreak.
Meanwhile, one day after his absence from the World Health Assembly (WHA) on Monday, Alvin Jacklick, minister of health and environment of the Marshall Islands, confirmed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' remarks that his absence from the floor had been caused by illness.
The WHA's General Assembly on Monday afternoon voted 148 to 17 not to include Taiwan's application for membership as a supplementary agenda item. Only 17 of Taiwan's 24 allies present at the meeting supported the nation's bid.
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