Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper said in yesterday's editorial that the spread of SARS around the world has highlighted the importance of admitting Taiwan to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The prestigious newspaper said China, which has persistently obstructed Taiwan's efforts to join the WHO, will benefit from Taiwan's participation in the organization.
China continued to obstruct Taiwan's bid to join the WHO even after Taiwan began in 1997 to ask for permission to attend the World Heath Assembly as an observer.
The exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO has given rise to human rights and humanitarian concerns, the editorial said. More than 80 Taiwanese people died from a contagious disease in 1989, deaths which could have been avoided if Taiwan were given assistance by the WHO, it claimed.
The editorial said that medical treatment and health services should not be limited by national boundaries and that health and politics should not be mixed. The principle of fair play is enshrined in the charter of WHO, it pointed out.
Many Japanese, American and European government and parliamentary leaders have voiced their support for Taiwan's bid to join the WHA as an observer, the editorial said.
If China gives up its objection to Taiwan's participation in the organization, it will be able to increase cross-strait exchanges and show the world that the Beijing leadership led by Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) is able to leave behind its rigid dogma and follow a more flexible political line, it added.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
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