Taiwan is to donate US$1 million to the WHO to fight the Ebola virus, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, even though the nation was excluded from the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decisionmaking body of the WHO.
Despite its exclusion from the WHA due to opposition from China, Taiwan is determined to continue contributing to the improvement of global health by donating the money to combat Ebola, which was first reported in 1976 in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tsai said.
Ebola, transmitted through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids of infected people, is one of the world’s most virulent diseases.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Taiwan is a world power in enhancing healthcare and the well-being of people, which is why it is pledging the funds, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said.
The donation shows Taiwan’s willingness to take responsibility as a member of the international community, Huang said.
Tsai made the announcement while receiving a delegation led by Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who had just returned from Geneva, Switzerland, where he solicited support from WHO members for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA and touted Taiwan’s role in disease prevention on the sidelines of the 71st WHA meeting.
Tsai protested against Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHA, saying that the WHO barred Taiwan due only to political reasons.
“Taiwan is a model in strengthening disease prevention in the world, but the WHO’s decision is likely to create a loophole for the global efforts in combating diseases,” Tsai said.
During the WHA’s annual meeting, which was held from Monday to yesterday, Taiwan’s allies and other countries friendly to the nation voiced their support for its presence in the meeting and related activities.
On May 16, a bipartisan group of 172 members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling for Taiwan to be allowed to participate in the WHA.
The international support for Taiwan’s presence at the WHA showed that the harder China suppresses Taiwan on the world stage, the more support Taiwan will secure from the international community, Tsai said.
“Not only have our allies have voiced support for Taiwan, but other nations without formal ties, such as the US, have also lent their support. Taiwan secured support from the largest number of countries in history,” Tsai said.
During his trip to Geneva, Chen was awarded the title of “Diplomat of the Global Charter” by the World Federation of Public Health Associations.
The award showed that Taiwan’s contributions to global health enhancement have been well-recognized in the international community, Tsai said.
Taiwan had hoped to attend the WHA as an observer, as it did from 2009 to 2016, but did not receive an invitation from the WHO because of opposition from China, which has been pressing Tsai to accept the so-called “1992 consensus.”
Tsai said on Facebook that the money pledged to fight the Ebola virus had previously been earmarked for cooperation between Taiwan and Burkina Faso, which severed its relations with Taiwan on Thursday.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
INCREASED RISK: The Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant has higher immune evasive capacity, but the CECC is more concerned about newer subvariants such as XBB and BQ.1 With the peak season for infectious respiratory diseases coming to an end, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that details of the next phase of lifting COVID-19 masking rules — removing the mask requirement in most indoor settings — are to be announced this week. Discussions on lifting other COVID-19 restrictions are also being held, including further easing border control measures, home isolation requirements and revising the definition for reporting cases, while also downgrading COVID-19 to a lower category of notifiable communicable disease, said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC. As the daily
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
GUT FEELING: In the leaked memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan urged mobile command personnel to go to a firing range, shoot at a target and ‘aim for the head’ A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 — most likely over Taiwan — and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year. In an internal memorandum that first emerged on social media on Friday, and was later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon, Air Mobility Command Commander General Mike Minihan said that the main goal should be to deter “and, if required, defeat” China. “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” Minihan said. Minihan said that Taiwan’s presidential election
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: Czech president-elect Petr Pavel said his nation stands firmly on the side of democracy and would boost cooperation with Taipei in all aspects Czech president-elect Petr Pavel spoke by telephone with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei. Tsai spoke with Pavel for 15 minutes in a harmonious atmosphere, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was also present during the conversation. Lin quoted Pavel as telling Tsai that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, adding that the Czech Republic stands firmly on the side of democracy and supports Taiwan in maintaining a lively democratic system free from authoritarian coercion. The Czech Republic would
RSS