Wed, Jan 23, 2008 page1

• MOFA condemns Chinese action at WHO board meet

  • By Jenny W. Hsu / STAFF REPORTER
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  China ambushed the nation's allies on the Executive Board of the WHO by robbing them of the opportunity to speak up for Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

  El Salvador, Paraguay and Sao Tome and Principe had jointly proposed a draft resolution calling for the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005 to be extended to include non-members like Taiwan.

  The bill, which was initially scheduled for consideration during yesterday's meeting of the 122nd session of the WHO's Executive Board, was successfully blocked by China after it unexpectedly requested that its review be advanced to Monday 10 minutes before the day's meeting was to conclude, when most of the bill's sponsors were absent.

  "We strongly condemn China for disregarding the health rights of Taiwanese. We also protest against the WHO for ignoring our allies' right to speak on behalf of their draft resolution," ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said.

  Yeh said China has never cared about the health of Taiwanese, as shown by its failure last year to inform Taiwan of a shipment of potentially toxic corn from Thailand.

  She said Paraguay had yesterday proposed an amendment stipulating that all countries must be included in the framework in order to prevent gaps in global efforts against disease.

  Quoting the "universal application" clause within the IHR, Paraguay said China had no legitimate authority to represent Taiwan's health interests.

  Yeh told the Taipei Times that representatives from San Tome and Principe and El Salvador had also condemned Beijing's claim to represent Taiwan's health interests.

  Belize, although not a board member, also spoke in favor of Taiwan.

  At press time, the meeting had not been adjourned.

  It was reported that China also proposed its own amendment in an effort to block Taiwan's representation in the health agreement. Sri Lanka and Djibouti seconded China's motion.

  Shen Lyu-hsun (沈呂巡), the nation's representative to Geneva, said the incident showed that China's suppression of Taiwan had intensified. He protested what he called the unfair ruling by WHO Executive Board Chairman Balaji Sadasivan in rejecting the bill, saying Beijing had wielded its influence to sabotage Taipei's chance.

  "Unless the WHO does something about it, Taiwan will remain a gap in the global disease surveillance system after the Executive Board meeting concludes," Shen said.

  During Monday's meeting, Li Baodong (李保東), China's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, said the draft resolution had challenged the "one China" principle. He said that with statehood as a prerequisite for implementation of the IHR, Beijing had already stated last May that the IHR applies to the "entire territory of the People's Republic of China, including ... the Taiwan Province."

  An April agreement between Beijing and the WHO on Taiwan's role in the IHR stipulated that China's National Focal Point would handle routine IHR matters through existing cross-strait health communication channels, Li said.
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