The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the government has completed registration for this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) after its representatives submitted two letters in person responding to the WHO’s invitation.
At a news conference in Taipei, ministry spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) said Taiwan’s representative office in Geneva director Yi Chih-chen (易志成) personally delivered the government’s registration documents to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan’s (陳馮富珍) office at 2:30pm on Monday, the deadline for registering for the forum.
Wang said the documents included a letter written by Minister of Health and Welfare Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) explaining that due to Taiwan’s transfer of power on May 20, the nation’s delegation for this year’s WHA session would be led by minister of health and welfare-designate Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延).
Photo: CNA
Also included was another letter written by Lin informing the WHO that he is to attend the WHA, which is to be held in Geneva from May 23 to May 28, and including a list of his delegation members, Wang said.
Asked whether the WHO’s failure to include a set of usernames and passwords for online registration in its WHA invitation to Taiwan — issued by Chan on Friday last week — constituted interference on a technicality, Wang said that this year’s situation was different than before.
“Since [the WHO] only began accepting online registration three years ago … there should not be a problem with registering face-to-face,” Wang said.
Department of North American Affairs Director-General Hsueh Mei-yu (薛美瑜) said that in addition to the US, many nations have supported and offered assistance to Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
Premier Simon Chang (張善政) said one of the letters represented the past and the other the future, adding they should not be interpreted as a quarrel between the current and the incoming administrations.
With regard to the “one China” proviso attached to Taiwan’s invitation for WHA, Chang said the “China” in the UN’s “one China” principle refers to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which the government does not recognize.
“We must respond and cannot tacitly acknowledge the UN’s interpretation of ‘China’ as the PRC. We should let them know that both sides of the Taiwan Strait have reached a tacit understanding to have different interpretations of the ‘one China’ principle,” Chang said.
With regards to the Democratic Progressive Party’s hopes of disentangling people’s right to health from politics, Chang said such an “ideal concept” might not be permitted by international reality.
The WHA invitation, which was addressed to Chiang, has galvanized an outpouring of criticism within the nation, as it is the first time such an invitation has come with a catch — mentions of UN Resolution 2758, WHA Resolution 25.1, and the “one China” principle.
UN Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the only lawful representative of China to the UN, while WHA Resolution 25.1, adopted at the 25th WHA in 1972, expelled the Republic of China from the WHO.
‘NO EQUILIBRIUM’: Taiwan’s increased defense spending is a good step, but it needs to do more to have the ability to deter aggression from China, a senior US official said The US plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems — including mines, cruise missiles and drones — to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said. Pursuing seven sales at once is a rare departure from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing. However, US President Donald Trump’s administration has this year become more aggressive with China, and the sales would land as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades over accusations of spying, lingering trade tensions, disputes about the
ON THEIR OWN: The KMT has decided not to participate as a party at this year’s forum, and if any members do go, they would not be representing the party, Alicia Wang said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced that it would not send a delegation “as a political party” to this year’s Straits Forum, after a Chinese TV program described the planned visit to the annual meeting as “suing for peace.” The 12th forum is scheduled to open in Xiamen, China, on Saturday. On Tuesday last week, the KMT announced that former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would lead the party’s delegation to the forum, with KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) as deputy head. However, on Thursday last week, China Central Television’s (CCTV) Yangshipin (央視頻) program, hosted by Li Hong (李紅), included a headline
RIVERSIDE CAMP: As rescuers continued their search for a missing man, Taipower said that the floodgates at a hydro plant on the Lishi Creek opened due to a malfunction Three people have been confirmed dead and one was missing after being swept away by a flash flood while camping in Nantou County’s Renai Township (仁愛), police said yesterday. Six people from two families were camping near Lishi Creek (栗栖溪) when the riverbanks were suddenly flooded just after 4am, carrying away four of the campers — including two children — who were asleep in their tents, police said. A man who was among those swept away was able to climb ashore and call for help, police said, adding that another man had gone missing in the turmoil at the campsite.
WORKING OVERTIME? NTU professor Lee Duu-jong denied that he had held a part-time position at a Chinese university or joined China’s Thousand Talents Program A candidate for the post of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) president yesterday dropped out of the race following a report questioning his links to Chinese academia and government programs. Lee Duu-jong (李篤中), a professor at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) chemical engineering department, was a member of China’s Changjiang Scholars’ Program in 2006 and was on the list of its Thousand Talents Program in 2017, a report by Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine said yesterday. The article said that Lee is suspected of having held a part-time job at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China and was the recipient
RSS