WHA limits Taiwanese in gallery

The World Health Organization yesterday imposed a quota of 15 for Taiwanese passport holders who applied to the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's highest decision-making body, to observe discussions on the nation's bid to join the WHO as a health entity.

In addition to the quota, equipment belonging to Taiwan's state-run Central Broadcasting System was confiscated by WHA officials.

The action triggered a howl of protest from Taiwanese participants.

The unexpected episode took place yesterday morning when hundreds of Taiwanese nationals holding Taiwan, US and European passports, applied to enter the WHA for the opening of the weeklong meeting.

"One of our men, who is a US passport holder, was unable to enter simply because his birthplace, written in the passport, was Taiwan," said Lin Chung-shao (林忠劭), Deputy Secretary-General of the Taiwan Medical Association. "This discrimination was overwhelming," Lin said.

Chang Fu-mei (張富美), Minister of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, confirmed the rather unhappy episode.

"Definitely it was due to China's protest or interference," Chang said.

"I asked a WHO staffer to show me any written rules with regards to the quota. He simply said, `I have no time to argue with you,'" Chang added.

Kao Chen-cheng (高成城), a Taiwanese with an Austrian passport, was denied access to the assembly, as the birthplace written in his passport was also Taiwan, Chang confirmed.

Those who had "Kaohsiung" or "Changhua," listed as their place of birth were permitted to enter the venue, as WHO officials failed to recognize that these cities were located in Taiwan, Chang said.

A WHO official confirmed yesterday to the Taipei Times that the organization decided to impose a quota of 15 for Taiwanese nationals who applied to enter the venue's public gallery to observe the proceedings of the meeting.

"Because they said there were more and more coming in, we had to make some kind of quota so as to be fair to everybody," the official said.

"In the name of trying to keep a little bit of democracy, they decided to put a certain limit on the Taiwanese," he added.

The official also denied that any US passport holders from Taiwan were denied entry.

"That was a mistake," he said.

In the wake of the morning's unpleasant events, US passport holders from Taiwan filed a complaint with the US embassy in Geneva, thus making their entry into the venue possible in the afternoon, sources said.