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.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS