The Presidential Office yesterday rejected allegations that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had struck a secret deal with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the country’s participation in the WHO.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said such a claim was “far from the truth” and that the matter required more negotiation.
Wang made the remarks in response to a report in yesterday’s Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper).
The report cited Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) as saying that the administration had come to an agreement with its Chinese counterpart stipulating that Beijing would issue a letter inviting the administration to participate in World Health Assembly (WHA) activities this year under the name “Chinese Taipei.”
Kuan said that China and the WHO signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2005 stipulating that all WHO-related communication with Taiwan must be cleared by Beijing first.
Though the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took pride in Taiwan’s inclusion in the International Health Regulations (IHR) this year, Kuan said that Taipei was listed as “a contact point in Taiwan” and that eight of Taiwan’s ports were listed under China as IHR-authorized ports, she said.
Wang downplayed the IHR controversy yesterday, saying that such occurrences were not uncommon since the Republic of China lost its UN seat. He believed the public would understand the country’s diplomatic difficulties.
Wang said his understanding was that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had taken steps in response to the situation and that the government would do its best on the issue.
Regarding the claim that Beijing would invite Taipei to participate in WHA activities, Wang said Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) had stated the country would not accept such an invitation.
Earlier yesterday, Kuan told a press conference: “The administration of President Ma is sacrificing Taiwan’s sovereignty to join the WHA as an observer, and the DPP will not accept this.”
She said the KMT and the CCP had reached agreements on four points: that Taiwan would consult with China and not with the international community on the WHA bid; that Taiwan would join the WHA under the title “Chinese Taipei” and not challenge the “one China” framework; that the WHA would review Taiwan’s observer status annually under the title “Chinese Taipei”; and that the WHO secretariat’s letters to Taiwan be delivered to Beijing.
Kuan said if the WHO invited Taiwan to join the WHA via Beijing as an observer this year, it would be like telling the international community that Taiwan is part of China.
“Taiwan’s bid for the WHA is a diplomatic matter, but the government has turned it into a cross-strait issue, which would give Beijing all the power to decide on Taiwan’s international activities,” she said. “Ma wants to make political capital with Taiwan’s entry to the WHA this year, but it might come at the cost of the country’s sovereignty and diplomatic rights.”
At a separate setting, DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said that China’s 2005 MOU with the WHO stipulated that Taiwan join the organization with the title of “Chinese Taipei” and that if the KMT government accepted such an arrangement, it would be tantamount to saying that Taiwan was part of China.
Asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) rebutted Kuan’s allegations, saying it was impossible for the government to have made any secret deal with China regarding the nation’s WHA bid.
Lin said the caucus believed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would push the nation’s bid with the conditions of “dignity, autonomy, pragmatism and flexibility.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS