Taiwan to apply for WHO membersh

Taiwan to apply for WHO membership as 'Taiwan'

Taiwan would request participation in the World Health Organization as a full member under the name "Taiwan" this year, Secretary-General of the Office of the President Chiou I-jen announced April 12.

At an Office of the President press conference held to introduce the nation's efforts to gain entry to the WHO, Chiou said the government was adopting a three-pronged approach this year. Stressing that it would continue previous attempts to obtain observer status at the World Health Assembly and meaningful participation in a number of technical conferences held under the auspices of the WHO, Chiou stated that, in a third measure, ROC President Chen Shui-bian would send a letter to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan expressing Taiwan's wish to become a member of the organization under the name "Taiwan."

Application for WHO membership under the name "Taiwan" gained endorsement not only from the Legislative Yuan but also from the people, he said. A poll conducted last March showed that nearly 95 percent of respondents backed the campaign.

As the WHO's objective was attaining the highest possible level of health for all people, Chen said Taiwanese people's right to health should not be discriminated against or denied. "We paid high prices for the enterovirus outbreak in 1998 and SARS in 2003," Chen said. "Therefore, Taiwan should not be left out of the global disease prevention network again."

CAN also quoted Chiou as saying that the US authorities had been informed of Taiwan’s bid to enter the WHO as a full member rather than joining the WHA as an observer. Taiwan would continue to communicate with authorities in the United States and Japan regarding the bid over the following month, Chiou said.

Joining the WHO under the name Taiwan has nothing to do with changing the nation’s name or the status quo. According to our Constitution, the official name of Taiwan is “Republic of China”. However, most countries, because of their “One China” policy, do not recognize us by our official name; instead, we are more commonly known as “Taiwan” internationally. Therefore, applying for WHO membership under the name Taiwan is based on pragmatic consideration and is consistent with Taiwan’s past campaign for observership in the WHA. It has nothing to do with changing the nation’s official name. The Constitution has not been changed, and neither has the status quo.

Taiwan’s admission to the WHO is in the world’s best interests also. Interdependence among countries has deepened with globalisation. On the issue of health security, the outbreaks of such epidemics as SARS, the catastrophic tsunami that ravaged South Asia and the spread of Avian flu highlighted a concept now widely accepted around the world that “disease knows no boundaries” and there should be “no gap in the world’s disease prevention network”.

Aid rushed to earthquake-hit ally

Following a magnitude-8 earthquake off the Solomon Islands' coast April 2, the Republic of China government donated US$200,000 and dispatched a medical team as an initial humanitarian relief effort to victims in this South Pacific ally. The quake triggered a tsunami that hit the islands' Western and Choiseul provinces.

An April 2 press release by the ROC Office of the President noted that, upon receiving news of the earthquake and resulting loss of life, President Chen Shui-bian immediately instructed the ROC Embassy in the Solomon Islands to express its concern to authorities about the situation. Based on the relationship between two countries and the spirit of humanitarianism, Taiwan would provide assistance as required by the Solomon Islands, Chen stressed.

The CNA reported April 5 that Taiwan International Health Action--a special unit set up to promote Taiwan's international medical cooperation and disaster relief--had sent a three-member team led by Dr. Chen Hou-chaung to the Solomon Islands.

According to reports provided by TaiwanIHA, the team arrived in Honiara April 6 and participated in relief coordination meetings with the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Medical Services, its National Disaster Center, the World Health Organization, relief teams dispatched by international NGOs, and the ROC, Australian and Japanese ambassadors.

Arriving on Gizo Island on the morning of April 8, the TaiwanIHA group and ROC embassy staff members were the first foreign medical team to arrive, and they immediately set about assisting local doctors in treating their patients.

Azmin Chang, chief of TaiwanIHA's planning division, said the medical team would stay in the affected area for at least 10 days, after which an evaluation would be made as to whether more assistance would be required.

The Solomon Islands government noted in an April 5 statement that the Taiwan Technical Mission also donated 1,000 kilograms of rice to the local Red Cross Society to be shipped to the disaster area.

Peace laureate Tutu visits Taipei, shares reconciliation experiences

Desmond Mpilo Tutu, former archbishop of Cape Town and 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, arrived in Taiwan April 18 for a seven-day visit at the invitation of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. He was accompanied by Alexander Boraine, chairperson of the International Center for Transitional Justice.

On April 19 Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted Tutu as saying his main purpose in visiting Taiwan was to share South Africa's experiences of resolving disputes and problems resulting from historical tragedy.

Tutu, who was chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1995 to 1998, attended a forum titled "International Symposium on Transitional Justice and National Reconciliation," organized by TFD April 24. In his speech to the forum, Tutu said that reconciliation was a long process, which could happen only after mistakes had been recognized.

President Chen Shui-bian received Tutu at the Office of the President April 24. According to an Office of the President news release, Chen praised Tutu as "the world's conscience" for his efforts to advocate justice and reconciliation and to boost the transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa. He added that Tutu's visit was helpful for exchanges regarding the struggles for human rights in both countries.

Chen further pointed out that South Africa's democratic achievements and its experiences of setting up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were the lessons for Taiwan to learn from.

Scientist wins award for asthma medicine

A Taiwanese scientist was given the Honorary Fellow Award by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology for his work on developing a new drug for asthma. Chang Tse-wen, an Academia Sinica research fellow, is the first Taiwanese to win this award, according to a March 19 press release by the research institute.

Chang received bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, as well as a doctorate in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University, the Academia Sinica Web site stated. A member of the institute's Genomics Research Center, Chang has been dedicated to research of immune mechanisms for allergic responses, partly because he suffered a severe bout of hay fever in 1987. Ten years of research led to his successful determination of the role of immunoglobulin E in causing asthma and the invention of Xolair, a drug that treated asthma by blocking IgE.

These were the reasons why Chang believed he received recognition by the AAAAI, the largest international professional society in this field. Xolair was approved for moderate-to-severe asthma treatment in the United States in June 2003 and for severe asthma in the European Union in October 2005.

Chang has written an article that provides an up-to-date summary of the anti-IgE approach. Titled "Anti-IgE Antibodies for the Treatment of IgE-Mediated Allergic Diseases," it has been published in the April issue of Advances In Immunology.

MOEA creates new agency to negotiate trade

The Ministry of Economic Affairs established an office March 30 to take charge of Taiwan's trade negotiations with other countries and economies. John Deng, former deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, was appointed to head the new agency.

Beginning operations April 2, the Office of Trade Negotiations was set up as a response to improved prosperity of regional economies in recent years and the rising demand for professional negotiators, especially following Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2002 and participation in the Doha Development Agenda.

In addition to negotiations relating to the DDA, the OTN would incorporate and arrange multilateral negotiations under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The office would also be responsible for affairs relating to signing bilateral free trade agreements, while other bilateral negotiations would still be dealt with by the MOEA's Bureau of Foreign Trade and its International Cooperation Department.

President Chen said that trade negotiations required cross-agency teamwork. Through multi-perspective and nonbiased coordination and communication, he said, the nation's greatest benefit could be secured. Establishment of the OTN demonstrated the government's intention to adopt innovative ways of thinking and consolidate the nation's negotiation power, he maintained.

Hsieh Fa-dah, vice minister of economic affairs, and John Deng, deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, participated in an online discussion with readers of the Washington Post March 29. Organized jointly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government Information Office--the agency that publishes this newspaper--the event was held to discuss issues surrounding a possible free trade agreement between Taiwan and the United States.

According to a March 29 news release posted on the GIO Web site, the U.S. Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 would expire at the end of June. Countries throughout the world were consequently keen to speedily sign FTAs with the United States in order to protect their economic and trade interests. ROC government agencies had been working to promote trade activities between the two countries for many years and hoped to sign a U.S.-Taiwan FTA as soon as possible.

The discussion, which began at 10 p.m. Taiwan time, was titled "A Path Worth Taking? The Prospects and Challenges of a U.S.-Taiwan Free Trade Deal." It was hosted by GIO Deputy Minister William Yih and conducted by the Washingtonpost.com "Viewpoint" forum. The hour-long chat attracted 54 questions and comments from around the United States and reflected readers' opinions relating to Taiwan's wish for an FTA. Hsieh and Deng had sufficient time to respond to 30 of the most representative questions.

One e-mailer in Washington, D.C., asked why a free trade agreement with Taiwan would be good for the United States. Hsieh replied that, according to economic studies, U.S. exports would grow by as much as US$6.6 billion annually, which would represent a larger figure than the United States had gained from other FTAs.

When questioned from San Francisco about the possibility that an FTA between Taiwan and the United States would help Taiwan integrate with the rest of East Asia, Deng responded that Taiwan viewed the FTA as a means of diversifying economic and investment relations with trading partners, adding that it had approached Asian trading partners to explore the possibility of signing other FTAs once the United States had taken the lead.

Pros and cons of Asia-Pacific FTA

At the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum held in Hanoi Nov. 18-19 last year, ministers and leaders agreed to discuss the feasibility of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific region this year.

Their decision was in response to a call by APEC business leaders to develop trade and investment alternatives in the Asia-Pacific in the face of a number of challenges facing the region. These include the World Trade Organization's apparently stalled Doha Round of trade liberalization, the proliferation of regional trade arrangements and free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, and the slow progress toward meeting the forum's 1994 Bogor goals.

Taiwan is a member of APEC and a major participant in the region's trade, though it is the only major economic power in Asia not enmeshed in a complex web of bilateral and regional trade agreements. Nevertheless, despite the absence of any special arrangements with its regional trading partners, the share of Taiwan's trade with the APEC region is large and growing strongly. According to the most recent figures published by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2005, Taiwan's merchandise exports to the region represented 80.6 percent of its total exports and 73.6 percent of its imports came from APEC countries. Over 2000 to 2005, Taiwan's percentage five-year growth trend for exports to APEC was 8.1 and 7.3 for imports from the area.

The decision of APEC's leaders to consider an FTAAP reflects the organization's willingness to respond to the growing frustration that business leaders have voiced over the multitude of RTAs/FTAs in the region. At present, between 35 and 40 are operating or are under negotiation. In its annual report of recommendations to the APEC Ministers and Leaders, the APEC Business Advisory Council points out that the sheer number of treaties increases the complexity, cost and administrative burdens of doing business in the region. The January 2007 issue of the APEC E-Newsletter notes, however, that RTAs/FTAs allow economies to control each trade relationship and that they make sense from a political standpoint.

ABAC argues that an FTAAP offers the highest potential for regional convergence of trade regulations and a reduction of the complexities facing businesses, though it is widely agreed that a lack of political will for an APEC-wide agreement is the key obstacle. Besides, the economic success of the APEC region and the very high degree of intra-regional trade illustrated by the data quoted from the Australian DFAT publication call into question the rationale for such a proposal. This point is made in a 2006 feasibility study undertaken by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, a network dedicated to promoting cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region, which stated that "in fact, regional trade and economic growth is continuing without an FTAAP."

From Taiwan's point of view, however, a regional convergence of trade regulations would be to its advantage. While APEC economic leaders reaffirmed their collective and individual commitments to concluding "an ambitious and balanced WTO Doha agreement" at their November 2006 meeting in Hanoi, there is little evidence at present that the current deadlock will readily be broken. In the face of the stalled Doha negotiations and the fact that the ROC is not yet a member of any RTA, an agreement covering all APEC economies, with whom it does by far the greatest proportion of its trade, could be very beneficial.

ROC officials discuss FTA with US readers

Mr Hsieh Fa-dah, vice minister of economic affairs, and John Deng, deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the United States, participated in an online discussion with readers of the Washington Post on March 29. Organized jointly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government Information Office the event was held to discuss issues surrounding a possible free trade agreement between Taiwan and the United States.

The US Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 would expire at the end of June. Countries throughout the world were consequently keen to speedily sign FTAs with the United States in order to protect their economic and trade interests. ROC government agencies had been working to promote trade activities between the two countries for many years and hoped to sign a US and Taiwan FTA as soon as possible.

The discussion which began at 10 pm Taiwan time, was titled “A Path Worth Taking? The Prospects and Challenges of a US-Taiwan Free Trade Deal”. It was hosted by GIO Deputy Minister William Yih and conducted by the washingtonpost.com’s “Viewpoint” forum.

The hour-long chat attracted 54 questions and comments from around the United States and reflected readers’ opinions relating to Taiwan’s wish for an FTA. Hsieh and Deng had sufficient time to respond to 30 of the most representative questions.

One e-mailer in Washington, DC, asked why a free trade agreement with Taiwan would be good for the United States. Hsieh replied that, according to economic studies, US exports would grow by as much as US$6.6 billion annually, which would represent a larger figure than the United States had gained from other FTAs.

Asked which industries stood to gain from the FTA, Deng referred to studies showing clear benefits for the United States in areas such as financial services, transportation, education and telecommunications. “US agricultural exports should also increase”, he added, “we estimate by as much as US$500 million per year”.

MOI guidelines need outside-the-box ideas

Given that attempts to reverse demographic trends elsewhere in the world almost always fail, Taiwan's government, and indeed the private sector, will need to think outside the box if they wish to overcome the problems associated with the country's declining birthrate.

As Taiwan's postwar baby boom generation has grown older and birthrates have steadily decreased, the pyramidal demographic structure--with a large number of active workers supporting their retired colleagues--has given way to an inverted pyramid, creating a top-heavy gray society of proportions almost as perilous as the situation in Japan. Taiwan's social welfare policies--such as pension benefits, education system and national health insurance scheme--were largely designed on the premise of a pyramidal structure and will rapidly come undone when it changes.

Some academics continue to adhere to the idea that Taiwan should maintain low population growth in consideration of the island's high population density. But this, by itself, ignores the question of who will look after the growing number of elderly people. Now the Ministry of the Interior is about to complete a comprehensive study and draw up guidelines for managing future population policies. These guidelines will emphasize a more multifaceted policy to face challenges incurred from the current trends of people having fewer children at older ages. They are likely to include incentives such as paid leave for pregnancy and baby care, tax exemptions for educational expenses, and subsidies for child raising and child care. The target is to raise the nation's annual fertility rate from the current 1.1 baby per female to 1.6 by the year 2017, but even halting the decline would be a significant achievement.

Book reveals the behind-the-scenes pyrotechnics of cross-strait relations

While other trouble spots in the world garner media coverage, the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait receives scant attention. A recent work sheds much-needed light on the main players in this sensitive game of diplomacy. The book goes into the corridors of power in Taiwan, the United States and China to enlighten readers on the decision-making processes of each country's leaders. Through such analysis, it makes a case that tensions between Taiwan and China will escalate. Taipei-based translator and writer Matthew Greenwich reviews the work.

Although North Korea, Kashmir and the Middle East are some of the most volatile regions in the world, John Copper, in his latest work "Playing with Fire," argues that the Taiwan Strait is the world's most dangerous flashpoint. More intriguing is the approach he uses in his analysis, looking at various crises from Beijing, Washington and Taipei. He shows that decisions made in each capital are not for the benefit of the people, but rather for political gain.

In four of the book's five sections, Copper focuses on an event from the past 20 years that exacerbated the tri-party relationship, analyzes each participant's reaction and shows how it caused the relationship to become ever more tenuous. Distrust, quid pro quo and internal politics were important in this relationship. Copper argues that these factors led to an increasingly dangerous situation.

Copper's conclusions, given away at the start of the section by the title "The Taiwan Strait is a Flashpoint," is dedicated to delineating and then refuting notions that seem to dismiss war. Copper lays out and rejects the arguments of economic links, growing personal relationships between the three nations, U.S. military superiority, the media's downplaying of the possibility of war and diplomacy. He disproves them succinctly and devastatingly, arguing that the historical evidence lies overwhelmingly in favor of further crises, and warns that, "it is very possible one of them will escalate out of control." Copper's views are not comforting news for the 23 million Taiwanese, whose lives hang in the balance.