The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reiterated its commitment to securing observer status for Taiwan at the annual World Health Assembly (WHA), after a WHO spokesman said that an invitation would not be issued this year without a “cross-strait understanding.”
Asked by the Chinese-language Apple Daily whether the WHO would issue an invitation to Taiwan for the WHA in May, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said that was unlikely to happen.
“Previous invitations to the WHA have been issued on the basis of a ‘cross-strait understanding.’ In the absence of such an understanding, invitations have not been issued,” Lindmeier was quoted as saying in an Apple Daily report published yesterday.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuen, Taipei Times
If there is no “cross-strait understanding” this year, it is not expected that an invitation to the WHA would be issued to Taiwan, he said.
Lindmeier’s remarks might have dashed the hopes of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to secure a WHA invitation for Taiwan this year after being snubbed the previous two years, apparently due to Chinese pressure.
The most recent invitation was received only days before Tsai was scheduled to take office on May 20, 2016, and came with an unprecedented mention of Beijing’s “one China” principle.
Taiwan first participated in the WHA as an observer in 2009, one year after then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office and his administration pursued a more conciliatory policy toward China.
The ministry yesterday said in a news release that it has instructed its representative office in Geneva, Switzerland, to express its discontent to the WHO secretariat and urge it to conform with its medical professionalism and invite Taiwan to attend the WHA as an observer.
In the past few years, the government’s positive advocacy for Taiwan’s WHA participation, which focuses on the nation’s professional, pragmatic and substantial contributions, has been widely recognized by the international community, it said.
“In addition to our diplomatic allies and like-minded nations such as the US and Japan, more and more countries are expressing their support for our cause,” the ministry said.
It said that it would work with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as well as civic groups, to use the growing wave of international support to secure an invitation for Taiwan, adding that China does not have the right to represent Taiwan’s democratically elected government.
Asked for comment, American Institute in Taiwan spokeswoman Amanda Mansour said that excluding Taiwan from global health, safety and law enforcement networks creates dangerous loopholes that can be exploited by malicious international and transnational actors.
“Taiwan has made important contributions to the fight against ISIS, humanitarian relief in Venezuela, combating the spread of Ebola and other critical, global efforts,” Mansour said, referring to the Islamic State group by one of the many acronyms used to refer to it.
“Taiwan has also demonstrated invaluable capabilities in the fields of disaster relief, medical technology, law enforcement and advancing women’s economic empowerment, and many more,” she said.
Washington applauds Taiwan’s substantive contributions to the more than 60 international organizations it participates in, and would continue to support Taiwan as it expands its significant global contributions, she added.
The British Office Taipei said that the British government has made representations to the WHO to facilitate Taiwan being an observer at this year’s WHA.
“The UK will continue to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation at the WHA,” it said.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS