The US Senate on Thursday passed a bill urging the US Department of State to develop a strategy to help Taiwan regain observer status at the WHO.
Introduced by US Senator Bob Menendez in March, the bill was approved by unanimous consent on the Senate floor, after it was approved by voice vote in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday last week.
The bill described Taiwan as a model contributor to world health, saying that it has contributed more than US$6 billion to international medical and humanitarian aid efforts in more than 80 countries since 1996.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwan donated millions of personal protective equipment items and COVID-19 tests to countries in need last year, it added.
“Diseases know no borders, and Taiwan’s needless exclusion from global health cooperation increases the dangers presented by global pandemics,” the bill said, citing Taiwan’s efforts to participate as an observer in WHO events since 1997.
With support from the US and like-minded countries, Taiwan held that status from 2009 to 2017, the bill said.
However, Taiwan has not been invited to participate in WHO events after the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) began facing increased resistance from Beijing on the international stage, it said.
If signed into law, the bill would direct US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to draft a strategy to include Taiwan in the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s highest decisionmaking body.
It would also require the secretary of state to report annually to the US Congress on the efforts.
The US House of Representatives passed a similar bill in March, and both chambers of Congress would have to agree on a unified version of the legislation before it could be signed into law by US President Joe Biden.
Bills on the inclusion of Taiwan in the WHO have been proposed to both chambers since 2017, without passing a vote until early this year.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS