US Senator Sherrod Brown has written to the WHO objecting to the organization’s referring to Taiwan as a “province of China.”
“I am concerned that the WHO has unwittingly entered into dangerous political waters that are contrary to its mission and detrimental to its goals,” the Ohio democrat said in his letter.
“The WHO is not a political authority within the UN and should not act as such,” Brown added.
The letter was addressed to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan and is in reaction to an internal WHO memo, which recently became public in Taiwan.
Brown, who has long advocated Taiwan’s full membership in all international organizations, said that by implying that Taiwan was a province of China the WHO had gone “beyond its mandate as a world global health authority and is in violation of US policy.”
“As a strong supporter of your organization, I have always believed that the WHO is a universal organization and that it should therefore open its doors to all members of the world community, including Taiwan,” he said.
Bob Yang (楊英育), president of the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs, said: “Senator Brown is hitting the nail right on the head.
“The WHO internal memo is not in keeping with the basic principle of universality for which the WHO should stand. It relegates Taiwan to a secondary status as a subsidiary of China, which is a violation of US policy as laid down in the Taiwan Relations Act,” Yang said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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