Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwanese delegation to the World Health Assembly (WHA) anticipate that the US health chief will speak on Taiwan's behalf during the WHA's general assembly, and that he could cast a ballot in Taiwan's favor.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson yesterday said that his stance on Taiwan's application was made clear in a letter he had sent to J.W. Lee, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), on May 11.
Thompson read from the letter at a media conference yesterday: "One of the important issues facing the WHO is the need to find ways for the 23 million people in Taiwan to contribute to and benefit from the work of the WHO."
PHOTO: WANG MING-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
"The United States supports the goal of Taiwan's participation in the work of the WHO [and] I would also like to reaffirm that the United States fully supports observer status for Taiwan at the WHA," he wrote in the letter.
However, Thompson expressed reservations about the certainty of the US vote.
"I don't know if it [Taiwan's application] comes up how it's worded, what it's going to say. I read the letter that sets out my terms and the position that I will take. I am not going to at any time tell you how I'm going to vote on an issue that I don't even know is going to come up," Thompson said.
Taiwan's Department of Health head Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said that while the US had decided not to propose Taiwan's application as a supplementary item to the assembly agenda, assistant US Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly had previously said that the US would cast a ballot for Taiwan if the issue is subject to an assembly vote today.
While the US has shied away from proposing Taiwan's application to the General Committee, Chen yesterday said that US support for Taiwan's observership bid has seen gradual improvement over the years.
Chen is slated to meet Thompson later today to discuss related matters.
Interaction between Thompson and Taiwanese health chiefs began in 2002 when then the Department of Health director general Lee Ming-liang (
In addition, while Thompson had spoken on Taiwan's behalf during a World Medical Association (WMA) annual conference in May 2002, US delegates remained silent on Taiwan's application during WHA proceedings that year.
Last year was the first time that Thompson spoke on behalf of Taiwan during the assembly, expressing US support for Taiwan's entry into the WHO during the general discussion portion of the assembly.
Chen also visited Thompson in his office in November last year. According to Chen, they had agreed that cooperation between Taiwan and the US on health initiatives could benefit global health efforts.
In addition, Congress has also passed bills supporting Taiwan's bid since 1999.
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