President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will hold an international news conference via satellite video today to tell the world why Taiwan wants to become a member of the WHO.
To raise the profile of the video conference, Taiwanese officials stationed in Geneva said the event would be conducted in the form of a news conference, with Chen taking questions from reporters in Taipei and Geneva and interacting with them. Moreover, simultaneous interpretation would be available throughout the whole event, they said.
Chen has held international video conferences relating to Taiwan's WHO bid before, but they have been in the form of a seminar without simultaneous interpretation services being made available to the press.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"This time around, President Chen will only deliver some brief opening remarks and then focus on interacting with reporters from around the world," a Geneva-based Government Information Office official said.
According to the official, the news conference will be broadcast live via satellite from two locations -- the Presidential Office in Taipei and the Bristol Hotel in Geneva. Invitations have been sent to all media outlets in Geneva, the official said.
The annual World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the decision-making arm of the WHO -- is set to open on Monday at the UN office in Geneva. The WHA's opening session is expected to deal with Taiwan's application for WHO membership under the name "Taiwan."
Since 1997, Taiwan has sought to become a WHA observer, but the bid has invariably been dashed by China's obstruction.
This year marks the first time that Taiwan has applied for full WHO membership. Without any fundamental changes in the international situation over the past year, prospects for Taiwan's new WHO bid remain bleak.
Sources said a married couple from Taiwan who came down with potentially fatal SARS four years ago would appear at the Geneva news conference to highlight the need for Taiwan to be included in the global epidemic prevention network.
Taiwanese ultramarathon runner Kevin Lin (林義傑), who made headlines earlier this year by completing a three-month crossing of the Sahara Desert, will also be present at the Geneva video conference.
Although the WHO Secretariat has rejected Taiwan's membership application, conveyed in a letter from the president to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍), on the basis that Taiwan is not qualified for a WHO seat due to its lack of statehood and UN membership, a number of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have written to Chan asking her to deal with the case prudently and put it onto the WHA agenda.
Sources have said that on its opening day, the WHA General Committee plans to debate whether to include Taiwan's membership application on the WHA agenda, as proposed by Taiwan's allies.
Meanwhile, in Taiwan, two sponsored walks will be held simultaneously in Kaohsiung and Taipei tomorrow in support of Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO.
"We hope that these walks for health will help raise the profile of Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO," said Peter Chang (張武修), head of the Department of Health's Bureau of International Cooperation.
Those interested in joining either of tomorrow's walks can visit www.bewhotaiwan.com.tw for more information.
Additional reporting by Angelica Oung
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard