This year's campaign by Taiwan supporters in the US Congress to secure Taiwan's participation in the annual spring meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) has begun in Washington, with the leadership of the House International Relations Committee sending a letter urging the WHO to grant Taiwan observer status at the meeting.
The letter came after China succeeded in handing Taiwan two setbacks over the past two weeks in the nation's efforts to take part in the global fight for improved health and against a possible international avian flu pandemic.
The first setback came when the WHO executive board last week succumbed to pressure from China rejecting a proposal by Belize to allow Taiwan to sit as an observer at the WHA meeting, to be held in Geneva in May. In addition, China also refused last week to allow Taiwan to participate in a US-sponsored international conference on avian flu held in Beijing.
Henry Hyde, the Republican chairman of the House committee, and Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the committee, sent a letter on Monday to WHO director-general Lee Jong-wook, urging Taiwan's participation in the upcoming Geneva meeting, saying the dangers of a global flu pandemic heightens the urgency for Taiwan's participation.
"Diseases know no borders," the letter said. "Taiwan cannot afford to be the missing link in this international battle against avian flu. Even more important, the global community cannot afford to leave Taiwan out."
The prospect of an avian flu epidemic "merits the full involvement of the entire international community," the letter states. "It also serves as another forceful reason for Taiwan's meaningful and effective participation in WHO activities."
The letter noted that commerce between Taiwan and its neighbors puts Taiwan at risk of importing the flu virus. In addition, Taiwan is an important transit point for migratory birds, which are the main carriers of the flu virus. Nevertheless, the letter says, Taiwan has been denied access to a number of key WHO warning systems that could help it fight any outbreaks.
Earlier, a senior US State Department official affirmed the US' support for Taiwan's involvement in the global fight against avian flu, and expressed regret over China's refusal to let Taiwan attend the Beijing meeting.
Assistant US Secretary for Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Bergner pledged that the US "will continue to support Taiwan's participation in key international meetings dedicated to fighting avian influenza and to engage with Taiwanese officials through bilateral meetings and workshops."
In December, 53 House members wrote to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, urging her to assure that Taiwan would be allowed to attend the Beijing meeting. The Bergner letter was in response to Rice's failure to make that a reality.
Bergner said that despite Taiwan's exclusion. the US has insured that Taiwan is "fully briefed" on all activities of the US-initiated global initiative against the avian flu, of which the Beijing meeting was a part.
Meanwhile, the State Department has so far failed to submit to Congress the annual report required by law on the department's efforts to promote Taiwan's participation in the WHA. The report was supposed to have been issued last month, but the official charged with writing it "forgot to do it," a congressional source told the Taipei Times.
The official promised to write the report "soon," but gave no date.
Congressional supporters of Taiwan plan to follow the Hyde-Lantos letter with a number of efforts this winter and spring to pressure the WHO into granting Taiwan observer status, Taiwan lobbyists in Washington say.
The 150-member Congressional Taiwan Caucus will seek meetings with the State Department and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt to urge them to push for Taiwan's participation at the WHA, pressure will also be put on the US delegation to the Geneva meeting to convince other countries to support Taiwan's participation, and a congressional delegation may go to Geneva for on-the-ground lobbying on Taiwan's behalf, according to Taiwan lobbyists in Washington.
The lobbyist note that the WHO executive board could still allow Taiwan's participation to be on the agenda when the board meets in April to finalize the agenda. In addition, the matter could be taken up at the meeting itself.
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