Mon, May 14, 2007 page3

• Ministry confident about WHO application efforts

  THE RIGHT PATH Officials said that seeking to join the WHO as `Taiwan' made it more difficult to win support, but called the new approach `the road we must take'

  • By Mo Yan-chih / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was confident about seeking support from the US and from other WHO members, despite the opposition from China and concerns about Taiwan's bid for membership.

  Meetings held in the past between US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and Minister of the Department of Health Hou Sheng-mou (侯勝茂) after the World Health Assembly (WHA) had denied Taiwan observer status are unlikely to be held again this year, however, as Taiwan applied for full membership this time.

  The meeting -- or lack thereof -- is considered a gauge of the US' attitude towards Taiwan's efforts to participate in the WHO. It has previously been held one day after Taiwan had been denied observer status at the WHA.

  Although Leavitt expressed his support for Taiwan's new approach -- to apply for WHO membership instead of WHA observer rights -- the two sides were not planning to meet this year, Hou said.

  "We didn't talk about meeting with each other this year. It's not an important matter on the agenda, as Mr Leavitt already wrote a letter to support our efforts," Hou said on Saturday night in Geneva, Switzerland, dismissing concerns that the US decided to cancel the meeting as a sign of disapproval.

  Government officials acknowledged that the decision to seek WHO membership under the name "Taiwan" had made it more difficult to win the support of WHO members, but said the decision was the correct one.

  "It is the road we must take, but there are different strategies to reach the goal," Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆) told reporters on Saturday night in Geneva.

  "We are communicating a lot more with the US, Japan and the European Union this year," Yang said.

  Despite the ministry's efforts, so far the US, Japan and the EU, which have voiced support for Taiwan's bid for observer status at previous WHA sessions, still only support "meaningful participation" in the WHO for Taiwan, Yang said, while declining to reveal details on the countries' responses.

  Although WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) has said that Taiwan is ineligibile to apply for WHO membership, Yang said Taiwan's allies were still sending letters asking the WHA to place Taiwan's application on the agenda.

  The nation's allies also said they would challenge the WHO secretariat's decision at the WHA, Yang said.

  In addition to efforts to gain WHO membership, Hou said the government would not give up previous efforts to apply for WHA observer status and would continue to seek "meaningful participation" in WHO-related activities.

  "A full membership in the WHO means 100 percent participation, but before we reach the goal, we can still push for meaningful participation. What qualifies as meaningful participation should be defined by us, not China," Hou said.

  Hou said the government was focusing on meaningful participation in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, food safety and international health regulations, and efforts to curb influenza and tuberculosis.

  Meanwhile, in response to former premier Su Tseng-chang's (蘇貞昌) unexpected resignation, both Hou and Yang assured that the government's efforts to push for membership would not be affected.

  "There could be a caretaker Cabinet, but there won't be caretaking on national interests. There might be some emotions, but our duties to fight for the country's interests on the battle field will never be affected," Yang said.
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