After a 20-year-long effort, Taiwan became an official member of the WTO on Jan.1. The focus of Taiwan's march toward membership in international organizations will therefore shift this year to achieving observer status in the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO works to promote the highest possible standards of health, emphasizing that, "the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition."
Taiwan needs the WHO and the WHO also needs Taiwan: the sharing of experience and cooperation between the two to eliminate epidemics would improve the health standards of the people of Taiwan and of humanity in general.
The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) has long fought for the rights and interests of the Taiwanese people, aggressively lobbying the US Congress and administrative authorities for support for Taiwan's observer status in the WHO.
Both the US Senate and Con-gress have passed legislation in support of Taiwan being given observer status in the body. On Jan. 13, FAPA held its 20th anni-versary celebration in Taiwan. The leading US proponent of Taiwan's WHO membership, US Representative Sherrod Brown, participated.
FAPA not only helps the people of Taiwan understand the efforts expended by Taiwanese organizations and friends overseas to raise Taiwan's status, but it also encourages the government and people to improve contacts and strengthen cooperation with overseas groups and more aggressively promote WHO membership.
This year, both governmental and non-governmental organizations have made early preparations to initiate efforts to acquire WHO membership, including contacting the organization's executive board.
Even though the first round met with difficulties, we will continue our unremitting efforts at the World Health Conference to be held in May. American friends of Taiwan have also begun an attempt to secure a legal amendment in Congress promoting Taiwan's membership in the WHO this year, in the hopes that US administrative authorities will have ample time to prepare the groundwork.
In addition to the US, however, we of course have to work hard to gain the support of other countries, in particular those in the EU. Given the closeness of cooperation between the US and Taiwan, however, we believe that many other countries will support Taiwan's entry into the WHO.
In short, the effort for Taiwan to gain entry into the WHO or other international organizations must continue, 365 days a year. We must do good deeds, plan and design, and never relent in our efforts.
Chen Lung-chu is chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Recently, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) published three of my articles on the US presidential election, which is to be held on Nov. 5. I would like to share my perspective on the intense and stalemated presidential election with the people of Taiwan, as well as Taiwanese and Chinese Americans in the US. The current consensus of both major US political parties is to counter China and protect Taiwan. However, I do not trust former US president Donald Trump. He has questioned the US’ commitment to defending Taiwan and explicitly stated the significant challenges involved in doing so. “Trump believes
China has successfully held its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with 53 of 55 countries from the African Union (AU) participating. The two countries that did not participate were Eswatini and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which have no diplomatic relations with China. Twenty-four leaders were reported to have participated. Despite African countries complaining about summit fatigue, with recent summits held with Russia, Italy, South Korea, the US and Indonesia, as well as Japan next month, they still turned up in large numbers in Beijing. China’s ability to attract most of the African leaders to a summit demonstrates that it is still being
The government is considering building a semiconductor cluster in Europe, specifically in the Czech Republic, to support Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) new fab in Dresden, Germany, and to help local companies explore new business opportunities there. Europe wants to ensure the security of its semiconductor sector, but a lack of comprehensive supply chains there could pose significant risks to semiconductor clusters. The Czech government is aggressively seeking to build its own semiconductor industry and showing strong interest in collaborating with Taiwanese companies. Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Friday said that Taiwan is optimistic about building a semiconductor cluster in
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday was handcuffed and escorted by police to the Taipei Detention Center, after the Taipei District Court ordered that he be detained and held incommunicado for suspected corruption during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The ruling reversed an earlier decision by the same court on Monday last week that ordered Ko’s release without bail. That decision was appealed by prosecutors on Wednesday, leading the High Court to conclude that Ko had been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and it ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Video clips
RSS