The lack of an official response from the WHO to a letter of protest from Taipei over its designation at the global health body is leaving some lawmakers grumbling.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the -Geneva-based WHO has yet to reply to the complaint, which was delivered by Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) during the World Health Assembly session on May 16.
The letter of protest had asked the WHO to refer to Taiwan as “Chinese Taipei” after an internal memo from the world body surfaced advising staff to refer to Taiwan as a “province of China” pursuant to an agreement with Beijing.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers slammed the government over what they called a lack of follow-up, saying that continued pressure was necessary for the WHO to revise the unwelcome designation.
They said that since the protest letter was given, little more had been said on the matter.
“With the lack of any sort of response from the WHO, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has shied away from discussing the topic, but continues to label Taiwan’s efforts [in the WHO] a success,” DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
Kuan, who first released the leaked WHO memo last month, instead pointed to the recent protest letter filed by 21 EU lawmakers and US Senator Sherrod Brown, calling their efforts “far more effective” in protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Brown’s letter to WHO -Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) said the world body had gone “beyond its mandate as a world global health authority” by referring to Taiwan as a province of China.
Ministry officials defended the government’s efforts yesterday, saying that communications with the WHO had been ongoing through Taiwan’s representative office in Geneva, but they did not specify what the discussions entailed.
“At present, we are still waiting for their response,” said Lily Hsu (徐儷文), head of the ministry’s Department of International Organizations. “We will continue through our discussions to make our position clear ... We can’t leave the matter unsettled.”
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