The US, Canada and Mongolia applauded Taiwan's prompt compliance with the most recent International Health Regulations (IHR) at a WHA committee meeting in Geneva yesterday.
Mark Abdoo, International Health Officer of the US Department of Health and Human Services, lauded Taiwan's early compliance with the regulations, which were adopted on May 23 last year.
Abdoo told a committee meeting on the application of the IHR and strengthening global preparations against an avian influenza pandemic that he supported Taiwan's inclusion in the global bird flu prevention network. He suggested that Taiwan's Center for Disease Control could be the local coordinator for such a network.
The Canadian and Mongolian delegates expressed similar sentiments. The Canadian delegate also recognized the memorandum of understanding that was signed between China and the WHO Secretariat last year to facilitate technical exchanges between Taiwan and the WHO.
Eight of Taiwan's diplomatic allies yesterday threw their support behind the nation's participation in the bird flu prevention network.
However, the delegate from China tried to prevent the committee from discussing Taiwan's inclusion in the bird flu prevention network.
The Chinese delegate requested that the committee's chair erase all discussions related to Taiwan from the minutes of the meeting.
Oman's delegate endorsed China's position.
The US delegate objected to the move and asked the Secretariat's legal advisor to keep the minutes intact. The US delegate questioned whether China had the power to speak on behalf of four other WHO members and to demand on their behalf that the discussion records related to Taiwan be erased.
The WHO Secretariat's legal advisor ruled that the minutes should be kept intact.
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
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