Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) filed a protest yesterday with the WHO for downgrading Taiwan’s status in an internal WHO document.
In a written letter of protest to the WHO’s Secretariat, Chiu asked the world health body to correct its designation of Taiwan as a “province of China” in the document, because Taiwan is a sovereign state that has never been a province of China.
Reports have shown that the designation is the result of a -memorandum of understanding signed between the WHO and Beijing in 2005.
Chiu and Taiwan’s representative in Geneva, Kelly Hsieh, (謝武樵) jointly hosted a press conference to announce the protest.
At press time, the contents of the letter had yet to be made public. Chiu’s delivery of the written complaint came after Taipei verbally complained to the WHO last week following revelations by a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator concerning the agreement between the WHO and Beijing on Taiwan’s designation.
As the WHA meeting opened yesterday, a group of Taiwanese NGOs was denied entry by the WHO.
Liao Lin Li-ling (廖林麗玲), a spokesperson for the NGO group, said that when members of the group showed their Republic of China (ROC) passports to obtain their identification cards for the meeting, they were asked for other identification. Officials said this was a special rule this year.
Liao and other members of the group recorded the conversation as evidence.
Back in Taipei, Department of Health spokesperson Wang Che-chao (王哲超) said the partition of work had already been agreed upon before the NGO delegation left the country and that the matter would be handled by Taiwanese personnel in Geneva.
Commenting on the matter, DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said the WHA was supposed to be open to the entire world and that the reasons given for blocking Taiwanese NGO groups and belittling the ROC passport were unacceptable.
Late on Sunday, Chiu said that the invitation to the 64th World Health Assembly (WHA) affirmed Taiwan’s commitment and contribution to world health.
Health ministers and representatives to the UN Geneva Office from countries that are Taiwan’s diplomatic allies were invited to a get-together at the Swiss Hotel on occasion of the international meeting of delegates of health authorities from around the world.
Stressing the importance of international efforts to promote health around the world, Chiu said that regretfully the recent issue of improper procedures and an erroneous reference to Taiwan as a “province of China” by the WHO Secretariat had hindered the effective implementation of the International Health Regulations.
“Taiwan has been invited to the WHA as an observer since 2009 under the name ‘Chinese Taipei,’” he told the diplomats and health officials at the gathering.
Since the WHA is the decision-making arm of the WHO, the organization should follow the principle of consistency and transparency by using the nomenclature “Chinese Taipei” in all its documents, meetings and mechanisms, he said.
Chiu said the DOH would hold a health forum in October and he was looking forward to seeing the WHA delegates in Taipei.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique