Thursday, May 17, 2007

FRUITFUL WHA DISCUSSION FOR TAIWAN'S WHO BID: OFFICIALS

Taipei, May 16 (CNA) With a clear and firm objective and the help of its international allies, Taiwan's failed bid for full membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) received a thorough and fruitful three-hour discussion at the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting, government officials said Wednesday upon return to Taiwan from Geneva.

"We had a very clear strategy this year and that allowed us to focus on the points of order. We were able to focus more on the meeting instead of promotion outside the assembly hall, " said Deputy Foreign Minister Yang Tzu-pao.

As the representative of Belize, one of Taiwan's 25 diplomatic allies, submitted a proposal for voting on whether Taiwan's membership bid should be listed on the agenda, the issue received thorough discussion of three hours, which was just what Taiwan had hoped for, according to Yang.

The representative from Nauru, another of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, also spoke up for Taiwan when several representatives complained about the lengthy discussion, saying that "time is precious for everyone, but the lives of the 23 million Taiwanese people are even more important," Yang said.

"This year we focused on doing the right thing -- bidding for the membership under the name of 'Taiwan' -- and forgot about China temporarily, " said Deputy Health Minister Chen Tzay-jinn.

Chen added that Taiwan opposes any illegal procedure in the handling of Taiwan's WHO bid issue within the WHA and WHO.

"Taiwan has received overwhelming support in its bid for a WHO membership from international media such as the Economist, Reuters, the Washington Post and Japan's Sankei Shimbun. A total of 956 articles to date from various news outlets all over the world have supported Taiwan's bid, compared to 715 from last year, " said Government Information Office acting Minister William Yih.

"Taiwan lost its bid once again, but the biggest losers this year are China and Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, because they did not dare to speak up for their improper handling of the case, " according to Chang Fu-mei, chairwoman of the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC).

As for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) China signed with the WHO Secretariat in 2005, Yang said the signing of MOUs is allowed under WHO regulations. However, a MOU should not involve a third party and infringe upon anyone's interests and rights, he added.