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Name not an issue in WHO bid: official

Vice president-elect Vincent Siew speaks at an ancestral worship ceremony in Chiayi City on March 24. PHOTO: TING WEI-CHIEH, TAIPEI TIMES

The obstacle to the nation’s WHO bid lies in Beijing’s insistence that there is only one China, not in the name the nation uses to apply, an official at the Presidential Office said yesterday.

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) touched on the issue when he met with president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) at the Taipei Guest House on Tuesday. The two did not reach any agreement, the official said.

In an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) on Friday, Ma said he favored a bid for observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA) using the name “Chinese Taipei.”

The WHA, the WHO’s governing body, is scheduled to open on May 19 in Geneva, one day before Ma’s inauguration.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government applied for full membership in the WHO under the name “Taiwan” for the first time last year. The bid was blocked from being included on the WHA’s agenda by Beijing.

In the CNA interview, Ma expressed his unhappiness, saying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had received a directive from Chen to apply for membership using the name “Taiwan” again this year.

“It was unfair to us for Chen to give such an order,” Ma was quoted as saying in the interview, adding the DPP government would step down soon and should not push for another membership bid under the name “Taiwan.”

The anonymous official said that the administration had not yet decided what name to use in this year’s application, adding that Chen would consult with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Security Council and other government agencies before making any decision.

But, the official said, it is not necessary to choose a name other than “Taiwan” this year if there is no compelling reason to do so.

The administration must consider whether using another name would make a difference, the official said, adding that it could on the contrary have negative repercussions.

Meanwhile, in related news, Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) yesterday called on vice president-elect Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) to ask Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to let Taiwan become a WHO member if Siew meets the Chinese leader at this year’s inter-party Boao Forum, which takes place this weekend.

The forum is a communication platform established between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party in 2000, after the KMT lost the presidential election.

Shieh said Siew should take advantage of the occasion and ask Hu to let Taiwan enter the WHO as a gesture of Beijing’s goodwill.

Shieh said the KMT had claimed that national security and the nation’s international space would improve if it returned to the Presidential Office.

One of the immediate challenges Ma must face upon taking office will be the issue of WHO membership, he said.

Beijing’s reaction at the WHA meeting next month will be a litmus test, revealing its attitude toward the KMT administration, he said.


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