Taiwan’s delegation to the World Health Assembly (WHA) did not experience any unfriendly behavior from China’s delegation, but Taiwan’s participation under the name of “Chinese Taipei” is the result of Chinese oppression, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said yesterday.
Lim, who is a member of Taiwan’s delegation in Geneva, told a news conference in Taipei via video conference that China’s delegation did not act unfriendly to Taiwan’s or mention Taiwan in its speech, which was focused on China’s public health issues.
“However, although Taiwan’s delegation was not treated unfairly, the name Chinese Taipei is an oppression. While past administrations had to make concessions to gain access to the WHA, the new government should make its position clear and seek formal membership without sacrificing Taiwan’s dignity,” the lawmaker said.
At a sideline meeting on Sunday, Lim protested against UN Resolution 2758 and the “one China” principle that underlay the invitation for Taiwan to join the assembly, which were mentioned for the first time since 2009 when Taiwan began attending the WHA as an observer.
“In 1971, the UN passed resolution 2758 to expel [former president] Chiang Kai-shek’s [蔣介石] regime, which occupied the seat for China. However, Chiang’s regime was not only unrepresentative of China, but it did not represent the people of Taiwan either,” Lim said.
Taiwanese do not accept the mention of the UN resolution or the “one China” principle, and Taiwan’s pursuit of becoming a normal nation must be recognized internationally, he said.
Taiwan’s diplomatic allies attach great importance to Taiwan’s contribution to the global fight against diseases and expressed support for Taiwan to become a formal member of WHA, he said.
Informal meetings between Taiwan’s and China’s delegations are to be carried out in the form of “chance encounters” as such meetings have been conventionally arranged, Lim quoted Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延), the head of the delegation, as saying.
However, Lim said he hoped that the cross-strait relationship could is normalized to enable a stable and formal cooperation framework for epidemic prevention.
Responding to controversy over whether his passport cover bore “Republic of Taiwan” stickers, Lim said that showing his passport risked obscuring the focus of Taiwan’s attendance in the WHA, but that he had no problem showing it afterward.
In separate news, the NPP put forward a draft national languages development act (國家語言平等發展法) to protect linguistic pluralism and multiculturalism.
“Taiwan is still like a colonial state if we cannot break free from the hegemony of Mandarin, which has suppressed languages and cultures of Aboriginal people, Hoklo people, Hakka people and others,” NPP Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal said.
The draft act aims to allow Aborigines to name themselves with their languages instead of using Chinese transliteration, preserve endangered languages, provide assistance to people with little command of legally recognized languages and help citizens learn national languages.
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