The Australian Office Taipei yesterday joined other nations calling for Taiwan’s practical participation in the WHO, after representatives of the US, EU and Japan, as well as Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, spoke up for the nation at WHO executive board meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, this week.
“As the [2019] novel coronavirus [2019-nCoV] continues to underscore so starkly, diseases do not respect borders. In this interconnected and fast-moving world, it is clearly in all our interests that the WHO does not exclude populations or potential partners,” the office wrote on Facebook yesterday.
“Inclusivity has never been more important as we work together to manage this immediate global health emergency and, longer-term, to realize the world’s health-related sustainable development goals,” it wrote.
Photo: Reuters
The Canadian Trade Office in Taipei on Facebook shared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s support late last month for Taiwan’s role as a WHO observer.
The posts came after US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Andrew Bremberg on Thursday urged the WHO to “engage directly with Taiwan public health authorities,” which prompted Chinese delegate Qi Dahai (齊大海) to reiterate Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, calling on attendees to stop “hyping up” the “so-called Taiwan issue.”
Since the daily meetings began on Monday, the delegates of eight of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — Eswatini, Paraguay, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, and St Kitts and Nevis — have advocated Taiwan’s inclusion at the WHO to close global disease prevention loopholes.
They have been joined by delegates from the US, Japan, Germany (representing the EU), the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Belgium, which is very stimulating, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
The number and strength of foreign delegates speaking up for Taiwan has grown significantly, showing that the nation’s bid to join the WHO has secured general support from the global community, the ministry said.
Most of the foreign delegates voiced their support for Taiwan during discussions about public health emergencies, demonstrating the global community’s concern about the rapid spread of 2019-nCoV in China, and distrust over claims that Beijing and the WHO have fully cooperated with Taiwan on information about the outbreak, it said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Thursday on Twitter called on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to reconsider his statement praising China’s disease-prevention efforts, after Wu’s previous post highlighting the WHO’s misreporting of Taiwan’s confirmed cases and its reference to the nation using incorrect titles in its situation reports.
“One week ago, @DrTedros, you said: ‘China is setting a new standard for outbreak response.’ ‘China deserves our gratitude & respect.’ ‘I will praise China again & again.’ Are you going to stand by your statements or retract them? Hello?” Wu wrote.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
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