The Government Information Office (GIO) yesterday unveiled a new advertisement to promote the nation's bid to participate in the WHO.
On the advertisement, WHO is written as "WHC," with the "C" representing an incomplete "O" to deliver the message that as Taiwan is not yet a member, the organization is not complete.
"As you can see, on the advertisement, WHO is written as `WHC' because Taiwan is not in the organization so the `O' is not complete," GIO deputy minister William Yih (
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The WHO Secretariat rejected Taiwan's latest bid to participate in the organization on April 25 after President Chen Shui-bian (
The World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision-making body of the WHO, will hold a meeting in Geneva starting on May 14.
Yih said the GIO will place the advert in the Financial Times and International Herald Tribune newspapers on May 12 and May 13, on the eve of the WHA meeting.
"We believe these two newspapers are available in most hotels where delegates attending the meetings will stay. Therefore, placing the advertisement in the newspapers will be the best way to deliver our message," he said.
Meanwhile, shouting "WHO, Taiwan Go Go Go!" next to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a group of activists yesterday presented a petition to the institute and urged the US to support the country's efforts to seek full WTO membership using the name "Taiwan."
The WHO Secretariat's rejection of Taiwan's bid to join the organization under the name Taiwan ignored the health rights of the people of Taiwan and created a hole in the global health net, the group said.
"Taiwan is the only country excluded from the WHO and it is due to China's obstruction. The health rights of its 23 million citizens are neglected and its absence also damages the rights of foreign people living or traveling here," vice president of the alliance Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) said.
After singing a Taiwanese folk song called "Mending the Net" (
AIT press officer Lawrence Walker received the petition while urging Taiwan to focus on meaningful participation in the WHO.
Twu and the Reverend William Lo (羅榮光), secretary general of the group, protested against Walker's remarks, arguing that Taiwan should enjoy the right to apply for full WHO membership as a sovereign state.
"Meaningful participation is meaningless. China gets to decide what kind of participation is meaningful for Taiwan, and we've never had a meaningful participation in the WHO due to China's obstruction," Twu said.
Twu said the alliance would invite the Presidential Office to write letters to foreign countries to protest the WHO rejection.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
RSS