Who Cares About Taiwan?

‘Who cares about Taiwan?’ That’s what the Chinese health minister had to say about the well-being of the island’s 23 million people at the World Health Organization three years ago, when many panic-stricken people in East Asia were wearing a mask amid the explosion of SARS. The same sentiment is expected to be on display again in Geneva this week during the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly, the policy-making body of the WHO.For the past 34 years, after the People’s Republic of China had kicked the Republic of China out of the United Nations, Taiwan has not been represented at the world health body. And for the 10th consecutive year, Taiwan is making another attempt to join the WHA. China, one of the five veto empowered permanent members at the U.N. Security Council, has been consistently making any meaningful participation of Taiwan in U.N.-related forums out of the question. In fact, Taiwan remains the only country in the world today that is refused the opportunity to assist and benefit from the WHO’s mission of universal health. Yesterday, the WHO once again rejected to invite Taiwain to the conference as an observer.The harm to Taiwan is obvious. When the SARS outbreak first appeared in China three years ago, Taiwan couldn’t obtain the most accurate and up-to-date information from the WHO because it was not a member. While the damage to the world might be less apparent, it could be equally significant. For example, when UNICEF appealed for donations to the vaccine fund for children in Central Asian republics in the 1990s, Taiwan’s donation was declined because “Taiwan is not a member of the WHO.”If the WHO is to be taken seriously, then Taiwan – the missing link – must be restored without further delay. As a major hub for trans-Pacific cargo, travelers, and migrating birds alike, Taiwan is already in a precarious position. Its geographic location makes Taiwan exceptionally susceptible to outbreaks of viruses such as H5N1 and it acts as an ideal base from which these illnesses quickly spread across the Pacific. Highly contagious diseases such as avian flu and SARS make Taiwan’s continued exclusion from the WHO health network a threat to the rest of the world. No one is safe until all can participate.The WHO knows this very well. “The SARS epidemic showed us that we cannot afford any gap in our global surveillance and response network,” the WHO director-general, Lee Jongwook, who recently passed away on May 22, 2006, said. “No country is immune to H5N1. Every country is at risk. Every country must prepare.” However, politics trumps everything, and in this case, life and death. China, more determined than ever to squeeze out even the little international space Taiwan enjoys, is not going to give an inch. The WHO secretariat signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding with China last year in which it agreed that Beijing’s permission would be required for Taiwan’s participation in any WHO activities.Those who always point their fingers at Taiwan as the troublemaker across the Taiwan Strait should rub their eyes and look at Taiwan’s modest approach. First of all, Taiwan is only hoping to become an observer at the WHA as a “health entity” and not asking to be admitted as a sovereign state member. This willingness to swallow its pride reflects Taiwan’s hope to avoid political conflicts with China. As Taiwan’s president, Chen Shui-bian, told a European reporter this month, “Taiwan’s hope to become an observer at the WHA has nothing to do with the issue of sovereignty, and it has no bearing on the so-called one-China policy.”“If we consider that even the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta can become observers to the WHA, then why are the 23 million people of Taiwan denied the right to participate?” Mr. Chen asked.In a move designed to demonstrate its seriousness in conducting down-to-earth business, Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control announced last Monday that it has decided to voluntarily adopt the WHO’s public health standards even though Taiwan isn’t a member. The WHO last year passed the regulations, which are its global legal framework for infectious disease control, and decided to begin global implementation in the second half of this year. The State Department, in a statement, said that the U.S. is pleased with this measure from Taiwan.In the same statement, the State Department also reiterated the U.S. position of supporting “the goal of Taiwan’s participation in the work of the WHO, including observer status at the WHA.” Congress has passed several bills regarding this. Taiwan also receives similar support from some major players including the European Parliament, Japan, and Canada.What are the chances of Taiwan receiving some justice this time? Close to zero, if another incident provides a sense of how the United Nations and China are in bed these days. Journalists from Taiwan who want to cover the proceedings in Geneva this week will be out of luck. They can’t be accredited, according to the WHO, because Taiwan is not a member state at the United Nations. It’s the third consecutive year Taiwan journalists have been refused entry.Who cares about Taiwan?Mr. Liu, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and general manager of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, is a Washington-based columnist.

Who Cares About Taiwan?

Who Cares About Taiwan?

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