Taiwan could achieve “meaningful participation” in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) within a year, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Lyn-shun (沈呂巡) said yesterday.
Taiwan formally declared its desire to participate in the ICAO and the UNFCCC in September 2009, though a formal request has yet to be made.
Answering a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) at the legislature’s Foreign and Defense Committee, Shen said that while Taiwan was moving toward its goal “inch by inch,” success “would come within a year.”
Photo: CNA
“Actually it’s happening right now. We are now able to attend side-events at the UNFCCC meeting,” he said.
Briefing the committee on the nation’s participation at the 64th session of the WHA in Geneva last week, Shen said that although the government was not entirely satisfied with the arrangements by which Taiwan took part, it was “sort of acceptable.”
The government plans to seek participation in more international organizations using the same model, Shen said.
The WHA model entails participation in international organizations under the name “Chinese Taipei” in the capacity of an “observer at the government level,” Shen said.
In this way the nation is represented by ministerial level officials and attends events at the highest level of the organizations, he said.
The WHA model marked the first time the nation was allowed to participate in a UN agency using the name “Chinese Taipei” since 1971, Shen said.
“Chinese Taipei” stands for “Republic of China [ROC], Taipei,” Shen said, adding that the use of Taipei rather than “Taibei,” as it is written by Beijing, clearly showed it stood for the ROC and not the People’s Republic of China.
Asked by KMT Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) to comment on the possible use of a “two China” approach when participating in international organizations, as suggested by former American Institute in Taiwan chairman Richard Bush, Shen said: “It would be difficult to apply ‘dual representation’ now, but what we can do is follow the WHA model.”
However, some legislators said they were not entirely satisfied with the delegation’s performance at the WHA and said the “WHA model” denigrated Taiwan’s sovereignty.
KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) asked when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first became aware of an internal WHO memo, leaked earlier this month, that instructed staff at the global health body to refer to Taiwan as a “province of China.”
“If it knew years ago, what measures were taken, when was the president informed, and why wasn’t the information made public?” Hsu asked.
Shen declined to answer.
“I’m sorry, but it’s not convenient for me to provide such details here,” he said.
Unhappy with Shen’s reply, Hsu banged the desk with his hand and said that if the ministry refused to share “confidential” information with the legislature, it should respond to the public directly.
In addition, he asked why Taiwan’s delegates at the WHA did not make public the protest letter by placing copies of it on the desks of other nations.
Defending the delegation’s efforts, Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) said he had strongly protested by using the phrases “utmost dissatisfaction” and “strongly protest,” which “were probably the strongest words I have ever used.”
Lawmakers said there was a difference between what one person considered a strong protest and how it was perceived by others.
Holding a copy of the protest letter handed by Chiu to the WHO Secretariat last week, DPP legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said: “They didn’t even dare to use an official letter heading because they were afraid it would offend China,” adding that only the word “health” appeared in the heading, while the nation’s name was not mentioned even once.
Such a protest was “soft and weak,” Huang said.
“If Taiwan were to attend international meetings in such a manner, it would be like being China’s ‘concubine,’ because we would only be able to appear with its consent,” DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS