The news that Taiwan will finally participate at the WHO, albeit only as an “observer,” received a mixed reaction in the US, with praise from the Obama administration and condemnation from the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA).
A State Department spokesman said the US “welcomed” the development and looked forward to Taiwan’s participation and the “benefits Taiwan’s public health expertise will bring to the international community.”
The Washington Post said it was important because “it means that big war between China and the US that so many people have worried about for so long is looking less and less likely.”
The Post’s foreign affairs writers were delighted at what they saw as China’s positive reaction to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies.
Former congressman Thomas Tancredo — a longtime friend of Taiwan — was not quite so sure.
“We should all celebrate,” he said, but added: “Tragically, Taiwan continues to be treated as a global pariah by much of the world, thanks in no small part to a relentless and decades-long international campaign of intimidation by the People’s Republic of China — a campaign that essentially remains in high-gear, notwithstanding this week’s incremental progress.”
The strongest reaction came from FAPA.
FAPA president Bob Yang (楊英育) said: “Taiwan’s international status has taken another step backward. We have been working for Taiwan’s membership in the World Health Organization for more than a decade. It is the right of Taiwan as a free and democratic country to have truly meaningful participation in this important international health organization. That can only be done if Taiwan is a full and equal member.”
“Just attending the WHA [World Health Assembly] — and under the subservient moniker ‘Chinese Taipei’ — doesn’t protect the health of the people of Taiwan,” Yang said. “For that, doctors need to have unfettered access to specialist meetings and information exchange.”
Yang added that the conditions under which Ma’s government had accepted observer status were demeaning to Taiwanese and undermined the nation’s sovereignty.
He said he was concerned about any “under-the-table deals made by the Ma administration with China on the matter.”
He urged the legislature and the public to demand full transparency.
“Only then will we be able to say that Taiwanese sovereignty and interests have not been sold out,” Yang said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai