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US Senate to vote on WHO bid

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has unanimously approved and sent to the Senate floor a bill to encourage the George W. Bush administration to devise and implement a plan to secure Taiwan's participation in next month's annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva.

But both Taiwanese legislators visiting Washington to push for Taipei's participation and a major congressional supporter of Taiwan have expressed concern over the extent of the State Department's commitment to carry out the legislation.

While Taiwan has long sought to participate in the WHA, the issue has gained urgency this year because of the burgeoning global epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which has underscored the importance of a general role for Taiwan in the international effort to combat global epidemics.

The Senate committee Wednesday endorsed legislation that was approved by the House of Representatives 414-0 on March 11. The bill was expected go to the Senate floor yesterday. If the Senate approves it, the bill would go to Bush for his signature, thereby enacting it into law.

DPP legislators Parris Chang (張旭成) and Trong Chai (蔡同榮) told reporters on Wednesday that they were less than encouraged by commitments made by State Department officials in meetings with them this week, in which the Legislative Yuan members tried to push the administration to take actions in Geneva backing Taipei's observer bid.

While the administration seems more willing to help than last year, when the US delegation to the WHA did very little, the State Department officials were not as committed as Taiwan would like, the legislators said.

Congressman Sherrod Brown, the author of the Taiwan WHA legislation, echoed the sentiments of Chang and Chai in a joint press conference at the National Press Club.

"I find it troubling that our government passively supports a policy which ensures the Taiwanese people are denied access to the newest medical treatments and the most recent medical procedures," Brown said.

In meetings over the past two days with US officials, Brown said he was "increasingly optimistic that the US policy is moving in the right direction." But, he said, "Their commitment is not as far as we want yet."

He said that in meetings he, Chang and Chai held with State Department officials, the officials refused to say what they plan to do in Geneva this year. He said he hoped the US could push the EU while Japan, which has expressed support for Taiwan's cause, could press Asian members of the WHO.

But he conceded that in view of the Iraq war, American's standing in the world is not as good as last year, "so it makes it harder."

The EU is understood to have planned a meeting for yesterday to adopt a unified stance on the Taiwan WHO question.

Meanwhile, asked about the issue at a daily briefing, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the US supports participation and observer status for Taiwan.

"We have urged the World Health Organization and its members to find appropriate ways for Taiwan to participate, including observer status. We will continue to do so," he said.

Boucher said, "The SARS outbreak underscores the importance of engaging all members of the international community in finding solutions to global problems like the spread of disease," but he declined to directly answer a question on whether SARS affects Washington's position toward Taiwan.

Chang noted that the recent evacuation of an American diplomat's son from Hanoi to Taipei for SARS treatment demonstrated Taiwan's ability to deal with such illnesses.
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