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.
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