Minister of Health and Welfare-designate Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) is to attend the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) on behalf of the incoming Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, despite the invitation’s stipulation that Taiwan’s participation should be in accordance with the “one China” principle and UN Resolution 2758, future Cabinet spokesperson Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday.
“The [incoming] government will not be absent from the WHA, and is to appoint Lin as the representative,” Tung told a news conference at the DPP’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. “However, our participation does not mean that we accept the conditions proposed by the WHO secretariat, and we think it is unnecessary for the WHO to make the stipulation.”
Whether the government should send a representative to the meeting has caused controversy because it is the first time since Taiwan began participating in the WHA under the name “Chinese Taipei” in 2009 that it has received an invitation mentioning the “one China” principle and UN Resolution No. 2758, which was passed on Oct. 25, 1971, and recognized the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as “the only legitimate representative of China to the UN.”
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Tung said that according to the WHO charter, the right to health is a fundamental and universal right, and that is why Taiwan would contribute to the WHO.
“The right of Taiwanese to fully participate in the international community should not be restricted by any political framework,” Tung said. “Therefore, the ‘one China’ principle based on UN Resolution 2758 added to the invitation issued by the WHO secretariat has no connection to Taiwan’s participation in the WHA.”
Thefore, the DPP has asked the government to continue to negotiate with the WHO over the “unnecessary connection” between Taiwan’s participation and the “one China” principle and requested that the Ministry of Health and Welfare clarify the stance in its reply to the WHO.
In related news, Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday shrugged off the controversy over the unprecedented “one China” proviso attached to the WHA invitation, saying Beijing is allowed to have its own interpretation of what “China” means under the so-called “1992 consensus.”
“The consensus states that both sides acknowledge there is one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what ‘China’ means. It is this consensus, along with [President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pledges of] no independence, no unification and no use of force, that have allowed cross-strait ties to move from confrontation to peaceful development,” Wu said.
The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000 — is a tacit understanding reached between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government in 1992 that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Wu said he was once asked by lawmakers during a legislative question-and-answer session when he served as premier why Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), then-chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, did not interpret “China” as the Republic of China (ROC) when he visited Taiwan.
“We should just let them [Beijing] have their own interpretation of what ‘China’ means and we could also have ours... This is the essence of the consensus of ‘one China, with different interpretations,’” Wu said.
Separately yesterday, DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) of the Democratic Progressive Party launched an online poll on Facebook to gauge what Taiwanese think is the best solution to the WHA conundrum.
“We all know that domestically, Ma’s administration has confined Taiwan with the ‘1992 consensus’ illusion, while singing in chorus with Beijing’s ‘one China’ principle on the outside… The government and its people now have three options — which one do you think will be the best for Taiwan’s future?” Wang wrote.
The options Wang offered are: attending the WHA for the sake of Taiwan’s international space, but lodging a stern protest during the meeting; attending the WHA without taking any measures to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty; or refusing to attend the conference as a way of rejecting the “one China” proviso.
As of press time last night, netizens were divided between the first and third options.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source