The EU should not let its "one China" policy restrict it from supporting Taiwan's bid to join the WHO, the head of the Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan said in Brussels on Thursday.
Because of its "one China" policy, the EU has long failed to support Taiwan's efforts to join the world health body, said Wu Shu-min (吳樹民), chairman of the non-profit foundation, which has played a leading role in pushing for Taiwan's WHO accession.
Wu is currently in Brussels to meet with media and medical leaders to drum up support for Taiwan's latest WHO bid.
Speaking at a gathering attended by about 30 media members and medical leaders, Wu noted that the EU has not supported Taiwan's WHO bid, agreeing just to allow "significant participation" by Taiwan in WHO-related activities, apparently because of the EU's "one China" policy.
Pointing out that both the US and Japan have expressed support for Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the WHO's top decision-making body -- as an observer, while at the same time maintaining their "one China" policies, Wu said he doesn't have a clue why the EU has remained inactive on the issue.
"It's a pity that while Taiwan has continued to be excluded when the world needs esprit de corps in the battle against the H5N1 bird flu epidemic, the EU has only been talking about `significant participation' for Taiwan," Wu said.
Wu added that over the past decade, Taiwan has limited itself to only pursuing WHA observer status in an effort to avoid a conflict with China over the sovereignty issue.
"But even this modest request by Taiwan has been rejected," Wu lamented.
Also speaking was Taiwan's representative in Belgium, Michael Kau (高英茂), who said that Taiwan's bid to join the WHO comes at a critical time, pointing out that the report of H5N1 cases in Japan underscores the fact that health threats are not constrained by national borders.
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