Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Mr Ma, do you take us for fools?

Taipei Times Editorial

With steely-eyed determination and a clenched fist held up high, a stern-faced President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday asserted his intention to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity as he slammed the WHO for addressing Taiwan as a “Province of China” in an internal memo, and held China responsible for pressuring the WHO into designating Taiwan as part of China.

Just before the public was swept away by Ma’s rhetoric and convinced of his will to stand up against China and anyone who stomps on Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity, however, an event that took place on the same day on the other side of the Taiwan Strait led people to wonder whether Ma was at all sincere at the press conference.

Ma Ying-jeou, the Puppet of Beijing

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Once again, Taiwan has witnessed that the word of Ma Ying-joke is a hollow as an empty gourd. After years of Ma telling the Taiwanese that he is protecting its sovereignty, that he would not mention independence and that he would not move toward unification, reality exposes his deception. Ma touted that the observer status that he has gained Taiwan as Chinese Taipei in the World Health Assembly (WHA) was a great achievement. A recent memo reveals that this was and still is a sham.

First one must remember that the observer status Taiwan has is a year by year status; it must always be approved by China. China can dump Taiwan at will and deny its status whenever it wants. Is that a great achievement by Ma?

Memo says Taiwan not a party to IHR

Taipei Times

A “leaked” internal memo from the WHO made public yesterday raised new questions about Taiwan’s participation in the International Health Regulations (IHR).

The memo, handed out by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), states: “Taiwan, as a province of China, cannot be party to the IHR” — an agreement that dovetails with Beijing’s position.

World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution 25.1, referring to the 1972 clause that ejected Taiwan’s representatives to the WHO, remains a “touchstone for such matters,” the confidential document said.

WHO memo sparks outrage in Taiwan

Taipei Times

Senior WHO officials sent out an internal memo on Sept. 14 last year asking WHO agencies to be kept aware that Taiwan is a “Province of China,” pursuant to an arrangement with Beijing.

The confidential memo, released by a lawmaker yesterday and published by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) the same day, says that procedures used by the WHO to facilitate relations with Taiwan and how these relations operate were subject to Chinese — and not Taiwanese — approval.

The authenticity of the document has been confirmed with the WHO, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

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