European lawmakers condemned the WHO in a letter of protest that accused the world body of undermining its own credibility when it referred to Taiwan as a province of China.
In a letter delivered to the head of the WHO, British MEP (EU lawmaker) Charles Tannock said he believed the body’s position on Taiwan to be “politically and morally flawed.”
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍), as a Chinese citizen, “risks calling into question [her] own personal impartiality and integrity” by terming Taiwan a part of China, Tannock wrote in a letter also signed by 20 other MEPs.
“No United Nations specialized agency has the right unilaterally to decide on the status in international law of any given country or territory,” the letter said. “As you well know, UN agencies and their staff are required to remain impartial and not to take instructions from, or show favor to, any national government.”
Tannock, who chairs the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group, was asked by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during a visit to Taiwan last month to speak in favor of the nation using the term “Chinese Taipei.”
The request came in the wake of the release of a WHO internal memo released by a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker that told agencies to refer to Taiwan as a province of China, pursuant to an agreement with Beijing.
Since 2009, Taiwan has been invited to observe the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO governing body, as Chinese Taipei, although the memo made clear that “there has been no change in the status of Taiwan Province of China.”
Tannock said he was “dismayed” by the revelation and that the world body’s “explicit reference to Taiwan as a province of China has no basis in international law.”
“It is therefore hard to avoid the conclusion that the People’s Republic of China has deliberately sought to compromise the independence and impartiality of the WHO for its own political purposes,” he wrote. “We urge you to change the WHO’s internal procedures to refer to Taiwan as ‘Chinese Taipei,’ the accepted nomenclature that Taiwan uses in other international organizations and structures.”
The letter was signed by lawmakers from a range of EU political groups, including 10 from the largest, the European People’s Party. Tannock is the foreign affairs spokesman of the smaller European Conservatives and Reformists Group.
The letter also called for Taiwan to be allowed to play a more meaningful role in the WHO, pursuant with a resolution passed by the European parliament last month.
“We believe that Taiwan, with its excellent healthcare sector and world-class doctors, has much to contribute to the WHO ... Healthcare is a basic human right and should never be exploited as a political pawn,” he wrote.
The Republic of China exited the UN, the parent body of the WHO, in 1971 after being replaced by a People’s Republic of China representative.
Government officials have lauded Taiwan’s inclusion as an observer in the WHA since 2009 as a “breakthrough” in international relations, although optimism was later dampened by the release of the WHO memo by DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲).
The memo was accompanied by the disclosure of other information reinforcing the claim, including WHO publishing policies and a mislabeled list of Taiwanese experts, leading the government to file a formal letter of protest on May 16.
Kuan said yesterday that she believed the MEPs’ letter to the WHO head was even more strongly worded than the government’s protest letter, which attracted controversy for discrepancies between the English and Chinese versions.
“The remarks in the MEPs’ protest letter makes it seem like they are defending their own country,” Kuan said. “It makes the government’s letter look weak.”
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
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
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
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