US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian McKeon on Friday urged WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to grant Taiwan observer status in the World Health Assembly (WHA) next month, the US Department of State said.
McKeon met with Tedros, who was visiting Washington, to discuss WHO sustainable financing and reform priorities, department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
During the meeting, McKeon also expressed the US’ commitment to COVID-19 pandemic efforts, amendments to the International Health Regulations, ongoing studies of COVID-19’s origins and Taiwan’s inclusion as an observer to the WHA, Price said.
Photo: AP
The request made by the deputy secretary of state followed a March 31 high-level working group meeting between Taiwan and the US in Washington, which focused on Taiwan’s participation in the 75th assembly set to take place from May 22 to May 28.
Taiwan had observer status at annual WHA meetings from 2009 to 2016, when relations between Taipei and Beijing were better under the then-ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Since 2017, the WHO has refused to invite Taiwan to attend the assembly due to opposition from China.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked McKeon, saying that Taiwan would continue to enhance its partnership with like-minded countries to combat threats to world health and maintain a global order based on rules and shared democratic principles.
Additional reporting by Yang Cheng-yu
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS