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Taiwan’s status safe at WHA: Yeh

Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said late on Saturday that Taiwan’s sovereignty was not and would not be eclipsed during the annual meeting of the WHO from today until Friday.

Yeh, who arrived in Geneva on Saturday to attend the 62nd World Health Assembly (WHA) at the head of a 15-member delegation of Taiwanese health officials and experts, called on Taiwanese to rest assured on the question of sovereignty.

“Please don’t worry. We would take action if Taiwan’s sovereignty were at risk of being compromised,” Yeh said.

Taiwan was invited by WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) on April 28 to attend the WHA meeting as an observer under the title “The Department of Health, Chinese Taipei.”

This marked the first time in 38 years that the Republic of China (ROC) would participate in a meeting hosted by a UN agency. Taiwan will attend as the seventh observer.

Addressing CNA reporters at a souvenir shop at the Palais des Nations — the venue of the WHA meeting — Yeh lamented the fact that “there is no ROC national flag here.”

“We still have a long way to go,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yeh said the invitation to Taiwan to take part in this year’s WHA as an observer was the result of improved cross-strait relations since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) came to office.

Yeh said that while it was natural for Taiwanese health officials to meet their Chinese counterparts during the five-day meeting, “I don’t see any necessity for the [Department of Health] to intentionally seek contact with Chinese delegates.”

In Taipei, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that in the section about global health on the WHO Web site, Taiwan was referred to as “China (Province of Taiwan),” which the party said made it abundantly clear that a 2005 memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between China and the WHO was in effect.

The DPP was referring to an MOU that stipulated that Taiwan could participate in the WHO’s technical meetings under the names “Taiwan, China” or “Taipei.”

DPP spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said that while Ma might be very pleased with Yeh’s participation at the WHA, Taiwan’s treatment on the WHO Web site “clearly shows that the approach taken to obtain observer status has undermined the sovereignty of Taiwan.”

“The government is talking a lot of nonsense,” Cheng said.

Cheng criticized the Ma administration for not seeking full WHO membership for Taiwan and deceiving Taiwanese, adding that the DPP worried that the approach used to gain WHA observer status could lead other international organizations to label Taiwan a province of China.

Cheng said the DPP advocates full WHO membership for Taiwan rather than observer status within the “one China” framework, adding that the DPP would closely watch this week’s WHA meeting for signs of attempts to denigrate Taiwan’s sovereignty.
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