Taiwan President Ma Slams WHO For Hypocrisy

http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=163241&ctNode=452&mp=9
Publication Date：05/10/2011
Source: Taiwan Today
By Elaine Hou

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou described the actions of the World Health Organization as hypocritical for referring to Taiwan as a province of mainland China in an internal memo on International Health Regulations.

“The ROC government is extremely unhappy with this situation and has lodged a protest with the WHO,” Ma said May 10 while receiving a Taiwanese business delegation at the Presidential Office in Taipei.

“The government will also take this matter up with the mainland Chinese communists in Beijing. We will not rest until the issue has been resolved and Taiwan’s sovereignty and security have been safeguarded.”

Echoing Ma’s remarks, Government Information Office Minister Philip Yang said the WHO has denigrated ROC sovereignty and jeopardized the interests of the people. “Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta will endeavor to resolve this situation at the upcoming World Health Assembly,” he added.

Ma and Yang’s comments follow the leaking of a memorandum by WHO Secretary-General Margaret Chan on the implementation of IHR. In the document, which was issued last September, Taiwan is referred to as “Taiwan Province of China.”

“Since becoming a party to the IHR in 2009, Taiwan has filed epidemic reports under the name “Chinese Taipei,” Yang said. “This title never raised objections from any WHO agencies.”

DOH Deputy Minister Hsiao Mei-ling said the issue must not be allowed to threaten Taiwan’s third year of participation in the WHA. “The nation’s sovereignty can best be safeguarded by continuing to take part in the event as a responsible member of the international community,” she added.

Several local academics familiar with the matter urged Taiwan’s delegation to voice displeasure over the decision by displaying protest placards and pamphleteering during the WHA, which runs May 16 to 24 in Geneva.