The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday confirmed the existence of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between China and the WHO in 2005, contradicting comments by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) a day earlier.
The existence and content of the MOU have been discussed publicly on numerous occasions by MOFA and its Chinese counterpart, but on Monday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) raised eyebrows by saying he could not be certain that the document existed because the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) “was not in power in 2005.” He challenged the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s claim that the document was signed to limit Taiwan’s participation in the organization.
“We are uncertain whether China signed an MOU with the WHO, but we don’t wish to see any such documents. However, we have heard about the signing of this secret MOU. But because [the KMT] was not in power at the time, we have no way of finding out,” Ma said in an interview with Taiwan’s China Television.
But MOFA Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) told the Taipei Times last night that the ministry’s position on the matter was clear.
“They signed the MOU, but we have never recognized it or acknowledged its power to restrict our interaction with the WHO,” he said. “As an independent sovereignty, we have been protesting this since 2005.”
Ma’s comment ignored past press briefings, annual reports and interviews in which both MOFA and the Department of Health (DOH) have recognized that the MOU exists. A Central News Agency (CNA) report last month quoted Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) as saying the 2005 MOU had restricted the participation of Taiwanese health experts in WHO-related activities.
The Formosan Association for Public Affairs has also published on its Web site a facsimile of what appears to be a WHO document titled “Implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding Between the WHO Secretariat and China.”
Asked whether the Ma administration was persisting in its protest to the WHO over the document, Chen reiterated that the government did not recognize its validity.
Regardless of whether an MOU was signed, it has no power to restrict anyone, he said.
“MOFA has never cared whether China and the WHO signed an MOU or not. By definition, an MOU is between the two signatories, so why should [Taiwan] concern itself about it?” he told the Taipei Times.
“If we are not restricted in any way, we should just ignore it because it literally does not exist or have any efficacy. Why do you want to bring it up?” he said when contacted again for further comment.
Chen said the WHO’s inclusion of Taiwan in the International Health Regulations (IHR) in January and its invitation of the country to the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer showed that Taiwan’s participation had not been constrained.
Chen said an MOU between two parties does not constrain a third party, but if it does, the third party will refuse to recognize it. Taiwan has never recognized the MOU, he said, adding that he had never seen it.
Chen also said yesterday that Taiwan’s accession to the WHA as an observer was the fruit of direct consultations with the WHO.
On April 30, a CNA report quoted WHO spokesman Thomas Abraham as saying “the WHO was not involved at all” in Taiwan’s accession to WHA this year.
At the time, the Taipei Times contacted Chen for comment, who said the ministry would not comment without verifying the report.
Yesterday Chen declined to comment on the matter again, saying the ministry was still verifying Abraham’s remarks.
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has