Despite the lack of an official invitation, a Taiwanese delegation is to leave at midnight tomorrow for the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.
The government will work with health and medical associations from around the world to host forums outside the assembly meeting that focus on issues related to antibiotic resistance, dental care for elderly patients and strengthening healthcare systems, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who is to lead the delegation.
The topic of this year’s WHA meeting is universal health coverage and as Taiwan is a world leader in universal health coverage, it us to jointly host with the World Medical Association a forum on the topic, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Chen also responded to a statement by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office yesterday, which said that Taiwan did not receive an invitation because the Democratic Progressive Party government refuses to acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus,” and accused Taiwan of “playing the sympathy card” to gain support from other nations.
“We are going to the WHA to make contributions and are not playing the ‘sympathy card,’” Chen said. “We are playing the ‘anger’ and ‘soft power’ cards. [China] should not use politics to harm the interests of Taiwanese.”
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation as to what “China” means.
The government is dissatisfied and disappointed at the lack of an invitation, Chen said, adding that the nation’s allies are to make strongly worded statements at the assembly to protest the decision to exclude Taiwan.
Nevertheless, the delegation would seek to have more exchanges with healthcare officials worldwide to teach more nations about Taiwan’s medical achievements, Chen said.
Although Taiwan is not a WHO member, it would score 85 points on the organization’s public risk indicator, which would place it in the same category as Japan, South Korea, Canada, Singapore and other nations with quality healthcare systems.
“If I run into the WHO secretary-general this year, I will directly ask him why his organization decided to disregard the health of 23 million Taiwanese,” Chen said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS