In a report delivered to the US Congress on Wednesday, Secretary of State Madeline Albright said despite US support, Taiwan is still a long way from participating in the World Health Organization.
Responding to a demand from Congress, backed by legislation, the State Department was mandated to make a report outlining Washington's efforts and the difficulties in promoting Taiwan's participation in the WHO.
The report reiterated that because of the Beijing's "one-China" policy, the US could not support Taiwan's entry into statehood-based international organizations such as the WHO, but it is trying to assist the island gain "meaningful participation" within the organization. It pointed to China's strong opposition and the lack of international support for Taiwan as the main obstacles.
The report said that decision-making in most international organization is based on consensus, "and international support for Taiwan's participation in international organizations has been extremely limited."
Taiwan has been trying to obtain observer status in the WHO's annual World Health Assembly since 1996.
However, a vote among members would have to be taken to confer such status and based on the "overwhelming negative" vote in 1997, the report concluded that there is currently insufficient support among the WHO members to accomplish such a task.
What the US has done, the report said, is to consult Taiwan through its de facto embassy -- the American Institute in Taiwan -- on ways of WHO participation, such as through international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) affiliated with the world health body.
The US has also suggested the WHO secretariat find ways to help Taiwan contribute and benefit from the WHO, and proposed to the three parties (the secretariat, China and Taiwan) to find a way for Taiwan health experts to attend meetings in their professional capacities.
Taiwan has been excluded from the WHO since 1972, the year after Taipei lost its seat in the UN to Beijing.
"The US is thinking of different ways to assist Taiwan, but our participation also needs the support from other countries," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Chien-jen (
US efforts alone cannot solve the dispute, said Susan Stahl, the AIT spokeswoman."The US does what it can. It's a member of the organization but does not run the organization," she said.
Albright's report was mandated under a bill signed by US President Bill Clinton in December, which called on the administration to demonstrate how it has -- as stipulated in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review -- helped support Taiwan's participation in appropriate international organizations.
China continues to be the biggest obstacle to Taiwan's active participation in the WHO.
When Clinton signed the bill calling for the report last month, China lashed out at the legislation.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said the legislation was "seriously infringing upon China's sovereignty and grossly interfering in China's internal affairs."
The report also pointed out that the US, through its bilateral communication with Taiwan, had provided assistance and information to the island over the years.
A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was dispatched to Taiwan to help with a bout of foot-and-mouth disease in the spring of 1997, where 2.85 million pigs died or were put to death.
The CDC also lent a hand during the Sept. 21 earthquake.
However, without participation in the WHO, Taiwan's ability to control epidemics is limited.
An epidemic in 1998 heightened the call for Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO, when an outbreak of enterovirus-71 -- a stomach virus affecting mostly young children -- killed over 50 before it was brought under control.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from