Five foreign missions in Taiwan, including the American Institute in Taiwan and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, yesterday issued a joint statement backing Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer.
The statement, which was also signed by the Australian Office in Taipei, the British Office Taipei and the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, reaffirmed “support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the work of the World Health Organization and Taiwan’s participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly.”
As health experts in Taiwan are working diligently to counter growing community COVID-19 transmission, excluding Taiwan from the WHA would hamper those efforts, and compromise global health and safety, the statement said.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwan’s meaningful participation in forums and committees of the WHO would benefit Taiwanese and the world, and the WHA would also “benefit from Taiwan’s world-class expertise,” it said.
However, the support — along with the backing of 71 governments, legislative bodies and parliamentary groups for Taiwan’s participation at WHO events — is not likely to have much effect on Taiwan’s bid to participate in the WHA, which begins today in Geneva, Switzerland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Taiwan has not been invited to the annual conference, which runs until Saturday.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Taiwan’s most recent invitation was in 2016.
As has been the case in the past few years, there is expected to be some discussion about Taiwan at the WHA.
Thirteen of Taiwan’s 14 diplomatic allies submitted a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate as an observer, with the issue expected to be addressed today by the WHA’s general committee, said Steven Solomon, the WHO’s principal legal officer.
The committee would make a recommendation to the plenary session on the issue, Solomon said.
A delegation led by Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Li-feng (李麗芬) departed on Friday for Geneva to campaign for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO and its annual assembly.
The delegation would seek bilateral talks with health envoys outside the WHA meetings to explore ways to cooperate on public health, the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said in a three-minute video that countries are increasingly supporting Taiwan’s WHA bid.
She thanked those countries for standing with Taiwan.
“With more support from the international community and more opportunities for international participation, Taiwan will become even more resilient and will be able to contribute even more to freedom and prosperity around the world,” Tsai said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS