Another Diplomatic Crisis…

Taiwan is going through another diplomatic crisis right now. After Taiwan has re-established formal diplomatic ties with St Lucia last month, today Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias has announced that Costa Rica has broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan after 60 years and formed relations at ambassadorial level with China as of June 1. It has been rumored for a long time that Costa Rica has got cozy with the PRC. Last month, we were also surprised when Costa Rica voted against Taiwan's bid for full membership of the WHO. Costa Rica's switch leaves Taiwan with just 24 allies in the international community, compared to the PRC's 170.

Ironically, at the press meeting, the Costa Rican president thanked Taiwan for its "solidarity and co-operation." Nevertheless, he also said that he had made the decision based upon all the Costa Ricans' interests, since Costa Rica views China as the most powerful emerging economy in the world and aims to strengthen the bilateral commercial ties for attracting more investments.

It is a warning that China has been actively seeking opportunities to form diplomatic ties with Latin American states during the last few years. According to analysts, Costa Rica's shift in allegiance to the PRC would probably prompt other Latin American nations like Panama and Nicaragua to follow.

In any case, we still need to give Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs our support. After all, the number of our "formal" international allies shouldn't be used as the only way to evaluate or examine the MOFA's efforts. In my view, expanding Taiwan's diplomatic space in a more flexible manner and promote various cooperations with the countries with which Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations would create more positive impacts on Taiwan's diplomatic work in the future.

Health Knows No Boundaries

Today I just found out that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a report on Taiwan’s global health humanitarian aid. The report's PDF file is attached here for reference.

On the official website, our ministry says, “The government and people of Taiwan are dedicated to alleviating the sufferings of victims of catastrophes and crises. Our work takes us to all corners of the world, from Kosovo, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, El Salvador....and countless other places. We are well aware that health knows no boundaries. Humanity has to make a converted effort to ensure the sustained development and prosperity of generations to come.”

These words are very touching, aren’t they? I hope our international friends can always stand with us~

Passion and Care ---
The Story of Taiwan's Global Health Humanitarian Aid (PDF)

President Chen makes last-minute appeal for Taiwan's WHO membership

In a videoconference May 11, ROC President Chen Shui-bian stressed that only when the World Health Organization closes the gap in the global disease prevention network by accepting Taiwan as a member can the health and lives of Taiwan's 23 million people and citizens of all WHO member states be fully protected.

Chen's contribution to the press conference, titled "Give Taiwan a Seat in the WHO," was filmed inside the Office of the President in Taipei and broadcast live to international journalists stationed in Geneva and others in Taiwan.

Citing statistics released by the WHO, Chen said that, by the end of March, 230 human cases of the H5N1 virus had been confirmed in six countries: China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Of these, 144 had been fatal, indicating a mortality rate of about 62 percent, Chen added.

Chen said that, being geographically close to these six countries, Taiwan had frequent exchanges and interactions with them. This included 1,183 flights between Taiwan and these countries every week. Moreover, with the Taipei Flight Information Region covering 13 major international air routes, nearly 200,000 flights arrived at or departed from Taiwan annually, with up to 25 million international and domestic passengers entering or exiting Taiwan, he said. These statistics showed that, should an epidemic break out in Taiwan, it could spread rapidly around the world and represent a severe threat to the planet's health and safety.

In order to prevent such a situation from arising, Taiwan needed to comprehensively and effectively participate in international public health networks and collaborate closely with other nations, Chen suggested.

Chen's opening remarks were followed by a Q&A session, in which Jean-Paul Hoareau de Montrose of the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle asked from Geneva whether Chen thought Taiwan had not yet contributed sufficient aid to poor people around the world.

Chen responded that, in addition to dispatching medical teams and assisting countries lacking medical resources, Taiwan's government and private sectors had provided health, medical and emergency humanitarian aid worth, according to conservative estimates, more than US$450 million over the last 10 years. Chen added that Taiwan would do more and try to make the world aware of its contributions to world disease prevention systems.

Ralph Jennings, Reuters Taipei correspondent, asked what new measures Taiwan would take in the future should the World Health Assembly, which would convene its 60th session May 14 to 23, reject Taiwan's bid for participation.

Mentioning that, in a May 9 article, The Economist was the first major publication to declare support for Taiwan's WHO bid, Chen replied that Taiwan would continue its efforts and hope to gain attention from the international community.

Three days later, on May 14, the WHA turned down Taiwan's first attempt to become a full WHO member using the name "Taiwan." During the second plenary meeting held in the afternoon, the WHA approved--by a vote of 148 to 17--a recommendation by its general committee to strike discussion of Taiwan's membership off the annual meeting's agenda.

Minister of Health Hou Sheng-mou, who was in Geneva to promote Taiwan's WHO bid campaign, acknowledged that Taiwan's attempt to become a full WHO member had failed, the Chinese-language China Times reported May 15. Nevertheless, he noted that important countries such as the United States and Japan, as well as the European Union, had expressed strong support for Taiwan's participation in the WHA as an observer and urged the world to pay attention to Taiwan's right to participate in international health affairs. "The world has not lessened its support for Taiwan," Hou added.

One example of support was a May 11 letter to the WHO from Mike Leavitt, U.S. secretary of health and human services, Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted Joseph Wu, Taiwan's representative to the United States, as saying May 12. Addressed to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, Leavitt's message urged the WHO to allow Taiwan to participate in technical-level meetings under the framework of the International Health Regulations and join the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, Wu said during a gathering with Chinese-language media in Washington, D.C.

Angry academics rail against WHO at think tank forum

Local academics accused the WHO of being blinded by politics, suggested reviewing Taiwan's bidding strategy to enter the body and entertained giving Taiwan a "bad boy" image in a forum on Tuesday.

Lamenting Taiwan's setback in its WHO membership bid, speakers attending a Taiwan Think tank forum said the WHO had degenerated into a political organization instead of one that "provides leadership on global health matters."

"The WHO yielded to China's political pressure in ignoring Taiwan's bid once again and put global health in jeopardy by leaving Taiwan out of the global health system," said Lo Chi-cheng, a professor at Soochow University.

Chiu Ya-wen, a researcher at the National Health Research Institute, said: "Taiwan is not poor enough, not sick enough and not bad enough. And Taiwan doesn't have the courage to violate WHO regulations."

"As the saying goes, `noisy children get the candy.' Maybe we should be like North Korea, creating trouble and being a bad boy so the international community will raise its eyebrows," political commentator Paul Lin said.

David Huang, an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of European and American Studies, said Taiwan should ask its diplomatic allies to attempt to invalidate a memorandum of understanding signed by the WHO Secretariat and China in 2005.

In related news, the US State Department reiterated its support on Tuesday for Taiwan to attend annual meetings as an observer of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's decision-making arm.

State Department officials made the remarks in response to media inquiries after the nation suffered a setback in its bid for membership of the WHO under the name of "Taiwan."

The US government encourages Taiwan to participate in international organizations in a meaningful manner and believes that the people of Taiwan are capable of making contributions in the area of global public health.

Therefore should enjoy the relevant rights and benefits, the officials said.

Taiwan warns WHO over missing link

Taiwan, stung by its 11th rejection for WHO membership, warned yesterday of the global health consequences its absence from the international agency might cause.

On Monday, the WHO voted 148 to 17 in Geneva to bar Taiwan once again -- despite a vigorous campaign by Taipei -- after China asked its allies to block the bid.

"If the WHO refuses to provide us with necessary information or enter into cooperation with us, and a gap is consequently created in the global disease control system, then the organization and [China] should be held fully responsible," the Government Information Office said in a statement yesterday.

China, meanwhile, hailed the vote as a victory in its effort to claim sovereignty over Taiwan.

"As the World Health Organization is an organ of the United Nations open to sovereign nations, Taiwan has no basic status to join," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

The vote "fully shows the common recognition by the international community of the `one China' policy," the ministry said.

Beijing also confirmed yesterday that it is discussing a second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the WHO regarding Taiwan's inclusion in the latest version of the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005.

While claiming that the second MOU would be more "extensive" than the first one that was signed in 2005, Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang (高強) blamed Taiwan for impeding the drafting of the memo by opposing the `one China' policy.

"We have been discussing with the WHO Taiwan's inclusion in the IHR, but face difficulties in proceeding because Taiwan has adopted an attitude of not admitting, accepting or cooperating with the `one China' policy," Gao said at a Monday night press conference in Geneva immediately after Taiwan's bid was rejected.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆) and Department of Health Director Hou Sheng-mou (侯勝茂) later rebuffed Gao's remarks, accusing Beijing of defining Taiwan as a province in discussions of Taiwan's inclusion in IHR (2005).

"China is trying to limit Taiwan's inclusion in IHR (2005) in the second MOU ? It is impossible for Taiwan to accept being treated as a Chinese province and discuss the issue with it," Hou said in Geneva.

IHR (2005), which will be implemented on June 15, includes "universal application" -- allowing it to cover all the world's people, including the people of Taiwan.

Yang said China is planning to exchange letters with the WHO to solve the issue -- and that Taiwan strongly opposed Beijing's interference in the matter.

Yang demanded that the WHO address the issue by exchanging letters with Taiwan's Center for Disease Control instead.

While China promised in the 2005 memo that Taiwan would be allowed "meaningful participation" in WHO technical meetings, it demanded that Taiwan's technical exchanges with the organization be arranged through Beijing and any contact WHO had with Taiwan be cleared with the Chinese delegation in Geneva at least five weeks in advance.

Taiwan said the 2005 MOU was a "cheating, secret agreement," and accused Beijing of refusing to allow Taiwanese experts to take part in WHO technical meetings.

Gao said China had never refused to allow Taiwanese health experts to take part in such meetings, but it would not allow Taiwanese government officials to join inter-government meetings.

"Drafting a second MOU doesn't mean the first one wasn't good enough. No matter how many memorandums there are, our goal is to allow Taiwan to join more technical meetings," Gao said.

Yang said Taiwan would not accept any arrangement or designation that denigrates its status as an independent sovereign country.

In Taipei, President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday that Taiwan deserves to join the WHO because it is a country.

"It is clear that Taiwan is a country," he said. "Although many countries do not recognize us as a country, it does not change the fact that we are one. It is a fact and the status quo that nobody can deny."

Chen made the remarks while meeting senior staff from the nation's embassies and representative offices.

Taiwan is a country even if it is denied accession to the WHO or the UN, Chen said. If Taiwan were not a country, nobody would be its president, he said.

Chen said he was glad the WHA spent hours discussing Taiwan's application, although the final outcome was disappointing.

Academics slam WHO

2007/5/16
TAIPEI, CNA

Scholars accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of being blinded by politics, reviewed Taiwan's bidding strategy to enter the WHO as a full member and entertained the thought of giving Taiwan an image of a "bad boy" in a forum yesterday.
Lamenting Taiwan's setback in its WHO membership bid, scholars who attended the forum organized by Taiwan Thinktank to review Taiwan's failed membership bid strategy said the WHO has become a political organization instead of an organization "providing leadership on global health matters."

"The WHO yielded to China's political pressure in ignoring Taiwan's bid once again and put global health in jeopardy by leaving Taiwan out of the global health system," said Lo Chi cheng, a professor at Soochow University.

"Taiwan is not poor enough, not sick enough and not bad enough. And Taiwan has no courage to violate the WHO regulations," said Chiu Ya-wen, a researcher at the National Health Research Institute, who half-jokingly described Taiwan's current situation as "Three Nots and one No."

"As the old saying goes, 'noisy children get the candy.' Maybe we should be like North Korea, creating trouble and being a bad boy so the international community will raise its eyebrows," said political commentator Paul Lin, tongue in cheek.

Taiwan should ask for its international allies to try to invalidate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that was signed by the WHO Secretariat and China in 2005, under which Taiwan's medical experts have to file applications five weeks in advance for attending WHO technical meetings and have them approved by China's health department, and Taiwan medical personnel must attend WHO activities in private capacities and should be identified as "coming from Taiwan, China, " said David Huang, an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of European and American Studies (IEAS).

Taiwan should also ask its allies to condemn the WHO secretariat for not complying with the rules of procedure by rejecting Taiwan's membership bid, Huang said.

Taiwan should also ask for an explanation from the WHO on the MOU and the improper handling of Taiwan's bid by the Secretariat, Lo Chi-cheng added.

In the future, Taiwan should develop a new scheme on how to accommodate three proposals -- the bid for WHA observer status, the bid for full WHO membership, and "meaningful participation" in WHO activities -- on the table, said Lin Cheng-yi, a research fellow at Academia Sinica's IEAS.

"The strategy for Taiwan's United Nations bid in September should also be included in the consideration, " Lin said.

The Commander in Chief spoke out

President Chen Shui-bian said Tuesday he took solace in the fact that the World Health Assembly spent hours debating Taiwan's application for membership in the World Health Organization although the issue failed to make the agenda of its ongoing meetings.

Chen said he did not expect the country could gain accession to the WHO on the first try, but vowed to continue the effort no matter how daunting the venture may be. In a bold departure from the last decade, Taiwan applied this year for WHO membership, instead of observer status in the WHA, the highest decision-making organ of the world health body.

"There is no need for righteous people to fret over a lack of company,”Chen said, referring to the fact that 17 WHO member states voted in support of Taiwan's entry. A total of 148 countries expressed disapproval for the debate, however.

Chen said he is confident the gap will grow increasingly small in the future with more and more member states to express sympathy for Taiwan's predicament.

"As long as we stick to doing the right thing, we will prevail eventually," the president added.“We must not lose heart but strive on until the world hears our voice.”

Despite the WHO setback, Chen said the country will go ahead and seek to join the United Nations under the name of "Taiwan”in September, after trying unsuccessfully to gain admission under the“Republic of China," the country's official title.

Chen said the key to winning membership in international organizations lies in normal statehood and insisted Taiwan is a sovereign country whether the world recognizes the fact or not.

WHA roadblock kills Taiwan bid

Taiwan's first effort to obtain full WHO membership under the name "Taiwan" failed yesterday as the World Health Assembly (WHA) ruled out the inclusion of the bid as a supplementary agenda item.

Applying for membership in the WHO under the name of "Taiwan" was the latest approach after 10 failed bids to obtain observer status at the WHA, the WHO's highest decision-making body.

During a closed-door General Committee meeting that lasted for almost two hours, Paraguay and Gambia spoke on Taiwan's behalf and asked for Taiwan's membership application to be placed on the supplementary agenda. But Cuba and China opposed the proposal.

After the debate, chairwoman Jane Halton -- an Australian -- announced that "Item 5," which dealt with admitting new members, would be struck off the agenda.

The proposal to put Taiwan's bid on the agenda was made by 12 of the nation's diplomatic allies: Belize, Honduras, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sao Tome and Principe, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland and Tuvalu.

Gambian Minister of Health Tamsir Mbowe said in the meeting that Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO violated the body's Constitution, which calls for the "highest attainment of health for all people."

"We don't see any reason why Taiwan should not be included in the WHO," Mbowe said.

China and Cuba, however, argued that "Taiwan is part of China, and China has always looked after Taiwanese people's rights."

Japan and the US, which had both voiced support for Taiwan's WHA observership, kept silent.

Before the vote, two of the nation's allies, Belize and the Solomon Islands, opposed the exclusion of Taiwan's application from the provisional agenda, and they challenged the WHO Secretariat's authority to kill the application.

"The assembly is the only body that has the authority to accept or reject the application ... It's hypocritical to deny the health rights of the people living in Taiwan," the Solomon Islands delegate said.

Confronted by Taiwanese journalists at the door of the assembly hall prior to the assembly's opening ceremony, China's permanent representative to the UN Sha Zukang (沙祖康) said that it was up to the WHO Secretariat to rule on Taiwan's bid.

"Taiwan has the right to challenge the decision of the WHO Secretariat, but it has to follow UN regulations ... I personally have no right to make a decision," Sha said.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) defended the organization's refusal to deal with Taiwan's application, arguing that Taiwan is not a sovereign state and not eligible to apply.

In response to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) call for the WHO to deal with Taiwan's bid as it did with East Germany in 1968, Sha said East Germany was recognized at the time by most countries -- including West Germany.

"We [China and Taiwan], on the other hand, are still fighting over the `one China' policy ... The situation is different," Sha said.

While voting against Taiwan's application, the US, Canada and Germany (on behalf of the EU) later called on the assembly to support Taiwan's participation in WHO-related technical meetings.

At a roundtable meeting, US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt reiterated the US position of supporting Taiwan's "meaningful participation" in the WHO, rather than full membership.

"We do not support Taiwan's participation for membership," he said. "There is a virtue in having Taiwanese technical experts included in the discussions. But we don't support Taiwan's participation for membership."

Shouting "WHO, Taiwan Go, Go, Go!" and singing outside UN headquarters where the WHA was meeting, groups of Taiwanese who had traveled from the US, Europe and Taiwan gathered to support Taiwan's bid.

Int'l Herald Tribune: U.N. health chief faces test over bird flu cooperation, Taiwan membership bid

GENEVA: Less than six months into her job as the U.N.'s top health official, Dr. Margaret Chan faces a double challenge this week that will test her ability to defend the interests of the World Health Organization against those of her native China.

At issue are the sharing of samples of the H5N1 bird flu strain and Taiwan's participation in the work of the WHO.

The self-ruled island, which has for 10 years failed to gain observer status within the health body because of China's objections, changed tactics last week and made a plea for full membership ahead of the annual meeting of the WHO's governing assembly.

Chan has so far rejected Taiwan's request on the basis that the island is not recognized as a sovereign state by a majority of WHO members.

But Taiwan's allies could try to force a debate about the relationship of the 22 million Taiwanese with the WHO onto the agenda when the World Health Assembly convenes in Geneva on Monday.

"Whether Taiwan is a sovereign country or qualifies as a member of the WHO is not something to be determined by the secretariat but rather to be decided by all its member countries," Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian said on Friday.

In the unlikely event that the assembly decides to hold a vote, Chan would be placed in a difficult position as mediator between Taiwan and China, which has always claimed that the island, which split from the Communist mainland in 1949, still belongs to Beijing.

At present, all official communication between the WHO and Taipei must be addressed to China, and even visits to Taiwan have to receive permission from Beijing first.

Taiwan argues that this jeopardizes its ability to cope with major medical emergencies, noting that in 2003 it took a WHO team six weeks to arrive on the island after an outbreak of SARS was reported.

U.S. Health Secretary Michael Leavitt wrote to Chan on Wednesday saying the WHO's disease reporting and response efforts need to be seamless.

"Any gap in such efforts threatens the health and well-being of all nations," he said in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press.

Leavitt said the United States supports observer status for Taiwan and wants Chan to "promote the participation of officials and experts from Taiwan in the organization's technical activities."

Currently, a "memorandum of understanding" signed by the WHO and China requires Taiwan to seek permission from Beijing to attend key meetings of the health body.

The WHO acknowledges the existence of the memorandum, but has so far refused to reveal its exact contents.

On bird flu cooperation, another of Chan's priorities, the focus in recent months has been on negotiating a deal with Indonesia to resume sample sharing with the WHO.

Officials in the southeast Asian nation say the current system is unfair because the WHO passes virus samples on to drug companies for research purposes, but any vaccines developed from these specimens would likely be too expensive for many in poorer countries.

The dispute has, for the time being, overshadowed concerns by health officials that China, whose large poultry stocks and vast territory make it an ideal breeding area for bird flu, is dragging its feet over the supply of virus samples to the WHO.

Lack of cooperation, experts say, can slow efforts to track the disease and develop vaccines and other flu-fighting strategies.

China is currently preparing to send five virus samples to the WHO, according to the organization's spokesman, Gregory Hartl.

But no samples have been received from China for about a year, during which time Beijing reported numerous cases of H5N1 — including in humans.

When Chan took office in January the Hong Kong-born doctor said she was best qualified to obtain Chinese cooperation on sample sharing.

The global meeting of WHO delegates this week will be the first opportunity to assess whether her efforts are bearing fruit.

The Washington Post: Taiwan belongs in WHO

By Bob Dole

After campaigning unsuccessfully many years for observer status, Taiwan now seeks full membership in the World Health Organization (WHO).
When WHO's governing assembly meets in Geneva tomorrow, Taiwan will seek to formalize its relations with WHO and thereby exponentially increase its health-related cooperation with other countries and international organizations and its ability to contribute quickly and directly to disease control and other efforts on local, regional and global bases.
The case for admitting Taiwan to WHO could not be clearer:
(1) Taiwan has the resources to become a top-tier participant. In the last 10 years, its public and private sectors have provided more than $450 million in health care and humanitarian aid to more than 90 countries. Today, with one of the world's 20 largest economies, it is willing and able to do much more.
(2) Taiwanese doctors and other health-care professionals have the skills to provide services to the widest possible range of beneficiaries. At home, their dedication and implementation of a superior health-care system has led the Economist to rank Taiwan the second-healthiest nation in the world.
(3) Taiwan is uniquely placed to address health threats emanating from China and elsewhere in Asia. Having suffered from the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic, which began in China in 2003, Taiwan worked closely and directly with other Asian countries in 2005 to prevent the spread of the bird flu (H5N1 influenza). Taiwan's full-fledged campaign made it the only East Asian country to escape this pandemic.
Unfortunately, Taiwan's efforts to increase its health-care outreach and its effectiveness through cooperation with WHO are actively and constantly thwarted by communist China and WHO itself. Beijing, an authoritarian regime, vigorously opposes every attempt by Taiwan, a vibrant democracy, to participate in international organizations. WHO is governed U.N.-style: This means political considerations sometimes trump its avowed mission, rational decisionmaking is sometimes lacking and doors that should be wide open are sealed shut.
An example of how this translates into action and inaction is WHO's refusal to allow Taiwan to take part in conferences on the bird flu. In the critical initial stages of the SARS outbreak, WHO and China refused to share information with Taiwan, thereby putting Taiwan and many other countries at greater risk. Recently, WHO signed a secret memorandum with China requiring that WHO obtain China's permission before sharing information with Taiwan or inviting Taiwanese doctors or officials to conferences.
At the same time, WHO has extended membership or observer status to such nonstates as the Cook Islands, the Sovereign Order of Malta, the Vatican and even the Palestine Liberation Organization. Yet Taiwan, which is genuinely positioned to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars and serve as a barrier to the spread of sudden disease outbreaks, remains locked out even as it applies for WHO membership as "Taiwan" rather than under its official name "Republic of China" -- which is rejected by Beijing and in standard international parlance under the "one China, two political systems" doctrine.
I have been a supporter of Taiwan throughout my career. When President Jimmy Carter prepared to terminate relations with Taiwan and establish full diplomatic relations with Beijing, I introduced a Senate resolution, which passed by a 97-0 vote, to require the administration to consult with Congress before changing our country's relations with Taiwan. Based on the mandate of this resolution, Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act (1979), which has guided our countries' bilateral relations -- and provided significantly for Taiwan's defense -- ever since.
During my service as minority and majority leader in the Senate, I supported many measures to provide tangible political, economic and military assistance to Taiwan. Today, as registered representatives of Taiwan in the U.S., my law firm and I continue to seek greater support for this important, democratic U.S. ally.
In my view, the next major step in our relations -- and in Taiwan's relations with the world -- is a major diplomatic push to support Taiwan's WHO candidacy.
Admitting Taiwan to WHO is not only in Taiwan's interests and those of other countries that support disease eradication and prevention and improved health care standards; it is also directly in U.S. interests. There are 170,000 Americans resident in Taiwan, and our country provides 22 percent of WHO's budget.
I appeal to President Bush and his representatives to WHO, as well as those of the world's other democracies, to stand up to the WHO's bureaucracy and the regime in Beijing by voting to grant full WHO membership to Taiwan.
The world is a dangerous enough place already. We should not allow political obstructions to tie Taiwan's hands and deny those in need the benefit of its health-care talents and economic largess.

Bob Dole is a former Senate majority leader and was the 1996 Republican candidate for president.

SARS death sensitized ultra-marathon runner to urgency of Taiwan WHO role

Long before Taiwanese ultramarathon runner and former teacher Kevin Lin (林義傑) accepted the invitation to join the "Run for WHO" campaign in Geneva today, he realized the urgency of Taiwan joining the organization after learning about the death of a student's mother from SARS on TV in 2003.

The mother of his student at St. Francis High School, who called him frequently to discuss her son's classwork, was Hoping Hospital head nurse Chen Ching-chiu (陳靜秋) -- the first health worker to die at her post taking care of SARS patients in the quarantined hospital during the SARS outbreak.

"That's when I started to realize the importance of Taiwan joining the global disease prevention system ... We need to let the world know that Taiwan doesn't join the WHO to receive, but rather to give," Lin said during a private meeting with reporters in Geneva.

The SARS epidemic claimed 73 lives in Taiwan and caused an estimated NT$100 billion (US$3 billion) in economic damage.

A mere two months after returning to Taiwan from a 110-day crossing of the Sahara Desert, Lin said he immediately accepted to the Foreign Ministry's invitation last month to attend the campaign and canceled local events to fly to Geneva.

"Sports, health and medication can't be separated. Sports cross national borders and so does the WHO. The mission of the WHO is to help others, and Taiwan's experience in fighting SARS is precious and helpful," he said.

Lin will join other WHO activists in the "Run for the WHO -- Taiwan walks along with the world" campaign along Geneva Lake today, while two similar events were held yesterday in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Similar events were held around the world, including in Tokyo, Seoul, New York, Atlanta, and Tuvalu.

Also traveling to Geneva to support Taiwan's bidwas a man surnamed Hsiao (蕭) and his wife -- who was the first confirmed SARS case in Taiwan -- joined Lin to urge the WHO not to exclude Taiwan from the global health prevention network.

"If the WHO had extended a hand to us earlier, the situation wouldn't be that serious," Hsiao said yesterday in Geneva.

Despite having to rely on an oxygen support system because of her exposure to SARS, she and her husband, who both declined to give their full names, decided to make the trip to highlight the WHO's violation of Taiwanese people's health rights by refusing to allow the country to join it.

"Even though I survived SARS, my health is deteriorating and my neighbors still avoid me as if I were contagious. For me, the disease never went away," she said.

Initially, doctors had diagnosed Hsiao as having a severe case of the flu. After two months in hospital and delayed treatment -- in spite of the virus having been identified in China and Hong Kong, Hsiao's lungs were severely affected by the virus.

During the outbreak, only two WHO officials from an ad hoc team visited Taiwan. The WHO had previously refused Taiwan's direct request for urgent assistance, as it is not a member of the organization.

Chen holds WHO bid conference

WALKS FOR HEALTH: Two walks are planned to start simultaneously in Taipei and Kaohsiung tomorrow in support of the nation's bid for inclusion in the WHO


President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will hold an international news conference via satellite video today to tell the world why Taiwan wants to become a member of the WHO.

To raise the profile of the video conference, Taiwanese officials stationed in Geneva said the event would be conducted in the form of a news conference, with Chen taking questions from reporters in Taipei and Geneva and interacting with them. Moreover, simultaneous interpretation would be available throughout the whole event, they said.

Chen has held international video conferences relating to Taiwan's WHO bid before, but they have been in the form of a seminar without simultaneous interpretation services being made available to the press.

"This time around, President Chen will only deliver some brief opening remarks and then focus on interacting with reporters from around the world," a Geneva-based Government Information Office official said.

According to the official, the news conference will be broadcast live via satellite from two locations -- the Presidential Office in Taipei and the Bristol Hotel in Geneva. Invitations have been sent to all media outlets in Geneva, the official said.

The annual World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the decision-making arm of the WHO -- is set to open on Monday at the UN office in Geneva. The WHA's opening session is expected to deal with Taiwan's application for WHO membership under the name "Taiwan."

Since 1997, Taiwan has sought to become a WHA observer, but the bid has invariably been dashed by China's obstruction.

This year marks the first time that Taiwan has applied for full WHO membership. Without any fundamental changes in the international situation over the past year, prospects for Taiwan's new WHO bid remain bleak.

Sources said a married couple from Taiwan who came down with potentially fatal SARS four years ago would appear at the Geneva news conference to highlight the need for Taiwan to be included in the global epidemic prevention network.

Taiwanese ultramarathon runner Kevin Lin (林義傑), who made headlines earlier this year by completing a three-month crossing of the Sahara Desert, will also be present at the Geneva video conference.

Although the WHO Secretariat has rejected Taiwan's membership application, conveyed in a letter from the president to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍), on the basis that Taiwan is not qualified for a WHO seat due to its lack of statehood and UN membership, a number of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have written to Chan asking her to deal with the case prudently and put it onto the WHA agenda.

Sources have said that on its opening day, the WHA General Committee plans to debate whether to include Taiwan's membership application on the WHA agenda, as proposed by Taiwan's allies.

Meanwhile, in Taiwan, two sponsored walks will be held simultaneously in Kaohsiung and Taipei tomorrow in support of Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO.

"We hope that these walks for health will help raise the profile of Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO," said Peter Chang (張武修), head of the Department of Health's Bureau of International Cooperation.

Those interested in joining either of tomorrow's walks can visit www.bewhotaiwan.com.tw for more information.

NGOs attempt to raise WHO awareness in Taiwan

Several non-governmental organizations are trying to raise awareness among the local public about Taiwan's attempts to enter the World Health Organization (WHO).

The groups in question are sponsoring a health walk in Taipei on Saturday. The walk is meant to build up determination within Taiwan about the WHO issue.

The foreign ministry's spokesman, Wang Chien-yeh, commented on the significance of the event:

"The main goal of the event is to raise awareness among Taiwanese citizens, and to educate people around the world that Taiwan is currently excluded from the WHO. We are using a health walk as the main theme of the event. In this way, we hope to present a positive and healthy image [to promote Taiwan's entry into the WHO]."

In related news, California Hospital Association President C. Duane Dauner on Monday called on the WHO to grant Taiwan membership. He said Taiwan is entitled to become a full member of the international health body. Dauner also said that other countries had a lot to learn from Taiwan about its medical treatment system.

Canada: Taiwan must be part of global health efforts

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

In the age of SARS, avian flu and other health threats, international co-operation in dealing with potential global pandemics has never been more critical. This is particularly true of B.C., gateway to Canada for hundreds of thousands of Asian visitors every year.

Membership in the World Health Organization, an agency of the United Nations, is vital to the purpose of protecting our health. And yet one Asian country, Taiwan, has been excluded from the WHO since 1972.

The reason, of course, is political. The People's Republic of China continues to deny the existence of Taiwan as a separate state. Later this month, the WHO will again consider Taiwan's application for observer status; and we believe it should be accepted.

China is again objecting, of course. But this is a case where political posturing must take a back seat to safeguarding our global health.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

Gambia: Take the Politics Out of Health - Admit Taiwan Into the WHO

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

EDITORIAL
27 April 2007

For a decade now Taiwan was been trying to gain membership to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

But each bid to join has been rejected so far, because of China's hostility to Taiwan's membership. And the situation is not helped when most countries operate a 'one China' policy, and refuse to recognise Taiwan in its own right. So where we should have had a concerted pressure on both China and the WHO, we have instead only a handful of nations well-disposed towards Taiwan's cause.


It is perhaps understandable, though deplorable, why countries will side with China to oppose Taiwan's membership-- they have their political self-interests--but when the WHO colludes in this politicisation of health, then we should all speak out against this outrage to institutional propriety.

The WHO constitution commits that institution to the following pledge: 'the attainment by all peoples the highest level of health'. How the exclusion of Taiwan squares with this constitutional commitment is a puzzle only the WHO can solve. It seems quite clear to us that when it comes to health matters, political considerations should stand much further back: when diseases and epidemics break, they will not consult us on the legal niceties of our political borders. Besides, it is quite obvious to everyone that Taiwan is a de facto sovereign country, anyway.

This sovereignty issue is something that the Taiwanese have been desperate to underplay, hence in their membership bid for 2007, they sought only observer status in the World Health Assembly (WHA), rather than full membership of WHO. The WHO constitution permits the invitation of a 'variety of entities, including non-member states, international organizations, national organizations, and non-governmental organizations, to participate in the activities of the WHO'. And some of these entities can be given observer status in the WHA.

Taiwan's bid for membership is not so much for what they can gain, but far what they can give, as well. In 2005 Taiwan helped Vietnam with 600,000 doses of Tamiflu during an epidemic break; and many other countries, including Burkina Faso, Malawi, Chad, and others, have been helped by Taiwan, especially in the fight against avian flu. Only a concerted effort can contain an epidemic outbreak, therefore the WHO cannot exclude Taiwan from its network of preventative measures. Countries where more H5N1 cases in humans have been recorded, are proximate to Taiwan, making the latter extremely important in any prevention strategy.

Globalisation, in the sphere of public health, means interdependence. The easy availability of air travel also means frequent interactions between peoples. an epidemy could quickly turn pandemic , if we do not have an effective coordination. We need to share scientific information, and coordinate our crisis response structures. Taiwan cannot be left out, because there can be no gaps in the world's prevention network. Let's take the politics out of health, and insist that Taiwan be admitted.

GIO's creative campaign boosts Taiwan's WHO membership cause

Acting Minister of the Government Information Office (GIO)William Yih said on Wednesday that disease prevention knows no borders. He added that there should not be any gap in the global disease prevention network. However, to this point, Taiwan has still not been able to become a member of the World Health Organization. This is not only depriving the 23 million people of Taiwan of their right to health, but is also detrimental to the global effort to prevent disease. Acting Minister Yih made the remarks at a press conference to unveil the government's promotional campaign to get into the WHO. The campaign not only features creative promotional materials, it is also designed in tandem with President Chen Shui-bian's decision that Taiwan should apply for formal WHO membership under the name "Taiwan."
In introducing this year's promotional campaign, Acting Minister Yih said that the GIO's ads focus on the likeness of a chart that is regularly used to test a person's vision. The chart, however, has been adapted a bit. All of the C letters in the chart are clear and easy to distinguish. On the line that examines whether a person can distinguish colors, the six letters of the name "Taiwan" are featured. The top line of the chart features the letters "W," "H," and "C." The "C" is somewhat blurry and there is a gap in the letter. The advertisement is aimed at attracting people's interest in the vision chart. In addition, the "O" in the WHO letters at the top has a gap in it, making it a "C". This gap represents Taiwan. The purpose of the design is to urge people throughout the world to support Taiwan's efforts to gain entry into the WHO.
Acting Minister Yih said that advertisements featuring the vision examination chart were unveiled at the Frankfurt International Airport and London's Heathrow Airport starting on May 1. The advertisements will appear in lit advertisement frames for one month. In addition, the advertisement will also be printed in the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune for the two days prior to the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly that will be held on May 14. The newspapers will be distributed to the hotels where the delegates to the annual meeting are staying.
In an effort to best employ the concept of the vision chart series of ads, the GIO has produced a series of posters, mugs and a 30-second short film that are being provided to overseas agencies to use and hand out. The short film centers around an actual vision test. The advertisement is highly creative and three dimensional. Overseas offices will arrange for the airing of the advertisement on local broadcast media. The posters and other advertisements will be printed in local newspapers and magazines. Combined with the airing of the TV advertisement, it is hoped that the public in the respective countries will come to have a better understanding about Taiwan's efforts to obtain WHO membership.
Acting Minister Yih also displayed the specially designed mug and a balloon that are also being employed in the advertising campaign. The large balloon, in the form of a person, will be transported to the site of the WHA meeting hall. This will increase exposure for Taiwan in its application to enter the organization.
In addition to the short film that focuses on the eye examination chart, the GIO has also produced a short film called "You Must Face the Facts." The film shows experts and scholars attending the meeting telling journalists the urgency of having a global disease prevention network. However, they become silent when they are questioned as to why Taiwan has not been included in the effort. The film stresses that the world must face the truth about the efforts of Taiwan and its 23 million residents in trying to get into the WHO, but having failed in this campaign so far. The short film urges that Taiwan should be allowed to do its part in order to help guarantee the health and wellbeing of all of mankind.
Acting Minister Yih also introduced a series of English articles compiled under the title "Lives in the Balance: Taiwan and the WHO." This compilation is based on the series of English-language of articles entitled "Diseases Have No Boundaries," which was published in 2006. The articles have been re-printed to include the measures taken by Taiwan to prevent avian flu, medical relief provided by Taiwan to the international community and examples in which Taiwan has provided assistance in various medical- and health-related campaigns. The articles also feature the contribution made by Taiwan's NGOs in international relief and assistance. This will better enable the international community in understanding Taiwan's willingness and ability in making a contribution to international health.
The GIO's overseas offices have already had articles, advertisements, and short films related to this campaign published and aired in their respective countries since the beginning of January. In all, the ads have been either published or aired 560 times, and the GIO hopes that the number will go even higher this year, helping to create even more momentum for Taiwan's application to enter the WHO.

TAIWAN'S ENTRY TO WHO SHOULD BE PUT ON WHA AGENDA: NGO

Taipei, April 17 (CAN)

Taiwan's application for full membership at the World Health Organization (WHO) should at least be put on the agenda of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May for discussion, a non-governmental organization said Tuesday.

The Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan (FMPAT), long committed to advocating for Taiwan's entry to the WHO, held an international press conference to voice support for President Chen Shui-bian's recently announced move to send the application to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan after ten consecutive years of failure in seeking WHA observer status. "For years Taiwan has been pursuing humble goals: becoming a WHA observer, as supported by the United States and Japan, and making 'meaningful participation', as suggested by European countries. But both approaches have proven unsuccessful due to China's politicization of the issue, " said Wu Shuh-min, President of the FMPAT.

Lo Chih-cheng, Chairman of the Department of Political Science of Soochow University cited the case of East Germany during the Cold War era and called on Chan and the WHO secretariat to respect due process.

Under the then zero-sum relations between the two German republics, East Germany's applications to join the WHO were rejected several times in the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, Lo said, what then WHO director-general Marcolino Gomes Candau did was to refer East Germany's applications to the WHA for it to make decisions, in the recognition that it was not his proper duty to determine whether East Germany enjoyed "statehood" as required by WHO Constitution.

According to the WHO Constitution, a member state is not necessarily a United Nations member but can be admitted upon an approval by a simple majority vote of the WHA.

Chan in a recent interview with the American television network CNN said the WHO's "193 member states still hold on very strongly to the One China principle". Denouncing Chan's claim as false, Lo said that "even if we accepted the notion of [two sides of the Taiwan Strait as] a divided nation, Chan should at least follow the East German example in dealing with Taiwan's application."

Political scientist Wu Chi-chung said there is no so-called "One China" principle held by the WHO against Taiwan's entry, "and if there were, the principle would be discriminatory and racist" because Taiwan is not even accommodated as was East Germany.

Winston Dang, lawmaker and Director of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's International Affairs Department, said the time is right to seek full WHO membership because of growing, high rates of support among Taiwan's people and parliament.

David Huang, former vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council and a scholar at Academia Sinica, described Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO as "health apartheid" and called on the WHO to scrap a secret memorandum it signed with China in 2005. "Even just for the sake of good governance of international organizations, a secret memorandum is simply illegitimate, " Huang said.

The memorandum allows China to have a final say on Taiwan's interactions with the WHO. "'Meaningful participation' is meaningless for us because it is another country that defines the scope and character of such participation," Huang said.

Meaningful participation has been suggested by some countries to refer to the opportunity for Taiwan to participate in as many WHO-related meetings as possible, regardless of official title or circumstance.

But Taiwan's experts have always been denied or delayed from attending even the most technical meetings, Huang said.

George Liu, a Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator, said Taiwan's entry to the WHO should not be politicized, as "it is a health, moral and human rights issue, " for diseases know no border and contagious disease outbreaks in Taiwan can easily spread around the globe.

(By Y.C. Jou)

Office of the President Holds Press Conference Detailing Taiwan's Efforts to Obtain WHO Entry

The Office of the President on April 12 held a press conference to detail the nation's efforts at seeking entry for Taiwan in the World Health Organization. Secretary-General to the President Chiou I-jen presided over the press conference, while Foreign Minister James C. F. Huang and Health Minister Hou Sheng-mou were also in attendance.

In remarks to the gathering, Secretary-General Chiou said that the government is adopting a three-pronged approach this year in its efforts to participate in the WHO. He said that in the past, the ROC (Taiwan) government both sought to obtain observer status at the World Health Assembly and hoped for significant participation in a number of technical conferences held under the auspices of the WHO. This year, he said, the government will continue with these two approaches. However, it will add a third measure this year in which President Chen Shui-bian will directly send a letter to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun. The letter will express Taiwan's hope to apply to become a member of the organization under the name "Taiwan."

Presidential Secretary-General Chiou stressed that local public opinion polls have showed that up to 94.9% of the Taiwan public supports the nation's entry as a member of the WHO and that Taiwan should enter the organization under the name "Taiwan." He also said that over half of the members of the Legislative Yuan have put their names to a bill calling for the government to seek membership in the organization rather than only observer status. Presidential Secretary-General Chiou said that efforts over the years to obtain entry into the WHO have failed due to pressure exhibited by China. He said the government feels that adding another approach, namely the personal letter by President Chen to the WTO director-general expressing Taiwan's request to become a formal member of the WHO using the name "Taiwan," will be of use in conjunction with the other efforts.

Meanwhile, Presidential Secretary-General Chiou expressed his deepest appreciation on behalf of President Chen and the 23 million residents of Taiwan to Taiwan's diplomatic allies and friends in the international community that have provided support for Taiwan in its efforts to obtain entry into the WHO.