An encounter between Taiwanese and Chinese delegations at the World Health Assembly (WHA) had not taken place as of at press time yesterday as Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延), who is heading the Taiwanese delegation, entered the Palace of Nations in Geneva for the opening of the conference.
Lin has said he would not go out of his way to arrange a meeting with the head of the Chinese delegation, but would greet him if the opportunity arose.
Li Bin (李斌), head of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, on Sunday did not respond to media queries on whether there would be any exchanges with the Taiwanese delegation.
Photo: CNA
The two delegations to the WHA conference, which opened at 9:30am yesterday, attracted attention because of the change of government in Taiwan and a controversy over the wording of the invitation to Taiwan this year.
For the first time since 2009, the invitation for Taiwan to attend the WHA as an observer mentioned UN Resolution 2758, WHA Resolution 25.1 and the “one China” principle underlying the two documents.
Lin declined to respond to media queries on Sunday when asked about reports that he had been assigned to deliver a letter of protest to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) on the government’s behalf over the wording of the invitation.
Taiwanese civic groups on Sunday staged a protest near the venue of the WHA, calling for Taiwan to be made a full WHO member and to take part in all activities at the WHA conference.
Taiwan has been attending the WHA as an observer since 2009 under the name of Chinese Taipei, but can only attend the general assembly, Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance executive director Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said, adding that it was time Taiwan gained full membership.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
RSS