The government will fight for the country’s right to participate in the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on an equal footing with other member states, despite the downgrading of Taiwan’s membership status, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said yesterday.
Yeh said Taiwan, as a member of the OIE, has the right to take part in OIE affairs and activities and will send a delegation to attend the General Session of the OIE’s International Committee taking place from Sunday to Friday in Paris.
Yeh dismissed the OIE’s decision to downgrade Taiwan’s membership status to the level of a “non-sovereign regional member” as illegitimate, adding there was no such category in the OIE charter.
Under pressure from China, members of the Paris-based OIE voted in May last year in favor of a resolution asking Taiwan to continue its participation in the OIE as a “non-sovereign regional member” under the title “Chinese Taipei.”
Taiwan gained accession to the OIE in 1954 under the name, “Republic of China (Taiwan),” but was forced to change its title to “Taipei China” after Beijing was admitted to the organization in 1992.
In an attempt to push the OIE to make further concessions on Taiwan’s title, China refused to participate in OIE activities.
To try to resolve the problem, the OIE International Committee adopted a resolution in 2003 to change Taiwan’s membership name from “Taipei China” to “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.”
Taiwan agreed to the new designation, but China refused to take part in the final vote on the issue.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
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