Taiwan will never agree to become an associate of China at the WHO, Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (炱?眹) told the legislature＊s Foreign and National Defense Committee yesterday.
Meanwhile, the government had yet to decide which name Taiwan will use in this year＊s bid for observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA), he said.
※We are cautiously optimistic about our WHA bid this year,§ said Ou, while claiming that if May＊s bid failed, the government would focus its energy on pushing for Taiwan＊s UN bid in September.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (庢隉祤) said that ※sources§ had informed her that during his recent trip to Singapore, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (趠詍磡) had secretly agreed with China that Taiwan would not make any UN and WHA bids in the next four years.
Beijing would send a letter to the WHO secretariat asking the health organization to accept Taiwan as a WHA observer, she said.
According to Kuan, National Security Council adviser Mignonne Chan (轙婸暺) said that negotiations with Beijing were near completion and had confirmed that Beijing would ask the health body to invite Taiwan to participate as a WHA observer under the name ※Chinese Taipei.§
A Central News Agency report said that the council denied Chan had ever made such comments and that Kuan＊s remarks were unfounded.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ou said, did not take part in the purported secret talks with Beijing, but ※we will never accept anything that compromises Taiwan＊s sovereignty and we will only accept an invitation extended by the secretariat office,§ adding that the WHO first had to obtain consensus from the majority of member states before issuing an invitation.
MOFA Spokesman Henry Chen (蠊棬旛) said Taiwan would not accept any arrangements directed by Beijing, adding that so far the government had not finalized what designation to use in this year＊s bid.
In 2005, Beijing inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the WHO to limit Taiwan＊s interaction with the organization. Under the arrangement, all communication between the two sides had to be cleared by Beijing first.
Kuan warned that if Taiwan were to become a WHA observer without demanding the MOU be revoked, Taiwan would be indirectly consenting to the document.
※We will definitely voice our concerns over the MOU in our upcoming negotiations with Beijing,§ Chen said.
Kuan criticized MOFA for its satisfaction with Taiwan＊s listing as a ※contact point in Taipei§ under the International Health Regulations (IHR).
※The term ＆contact point＊ does not exist at the WHO. The official term is focal point,§ she said.
Director-〝General of the Department of International Organizations Paul Chang (艚湞殑) said that Taiwan was not an IHR member and that only members could be listed as focal points. However, in order to safeguard the health of Taiwanese, the WHO made a special arrangement to include Taiwan in its alert and response network by using the term ※contact point.§
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