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.”
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
WAR’S END ANNIVERSARY: ‘Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,’ the president said on social media after attending a morning ceremony Countries should uphold peace, and promote freedom and democracy, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as Taiwan marked 80 years since the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other top officials in the morning attended a ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to honor those who sacrificed their lives in major battles. “Taiwanese are peace-loving. Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,” Lai wrote on Facebook afterward, apparently to highlight the contrast with the military parade in Beijing marking the same anniversary. “We
RSS