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Legislator’s shirt gets her booted
out of WHA forum
By Stacy Hsu / Staff writer, with CNA
Department of Health Minister
Chiu Wen-ta, front center, takes his seat with other Taiwanese delegates
yesterday at the 65th World Health Assembly in Geneva, where Taiwan has observer
status under the name "Chinese Taipei."
Photo: CNA
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator
Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) was escorted out of the 65th World Health Assembly (WHA)
meeting in Geneva on its opening day on Monday and had her observer credentials
confiscated for wearing a T-shirt with the words “Taiwan is Taiwan, not China.”
Lin said her T-shirt was “a form of silent protest” against President Ma Ying-jeou’s
(馬英九) references to “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” in his inauguration speech
on Sunday, adding that she wanted to send a clear message that Taiwan is not a
part of China.
“I took off my jacket while WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) was
addressing the assembly in a bid to make a clear statement that the ‘one
country, two areas’ framework does not exist in Taiwan,” Lin said in a telephone
interview with the Central News Agency yesterday.
Shortly after her “silent protest,” Lin said she was asked to leave the
conference hall by the WHO’s security staff, but added that she left on her own
initiative and did not cause any disturbance.
Displaying the T-shirt was only a way of expressing her stance in a silent
manner, but the WHO could not tolerate such an approach, Lin said.
“How much diplomatic space does Taiwan really have left?” Lin said indignantly.
“If I were wearing a T-shirt that read ‘I am Lady Gaga’s little monster,’ maybe
I would not have been treated in such a manner,” she said.
Commenting on the incident, Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) said
that opinions should be expressed in a manner that conforms with international
protocol.
On a comment in which he was quoted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) as having said that Chan asked Chiu “why would
[you] create trouble during my speech?” the health minister denied the WHO
director-general mentioned the issue during an informal meeting, adding that she
merely came and said hello.
Lin said she had applied to take part in the WHA as a Taiwanese observer in the
past, but had been refused. She said she was only granted observer status this
year in her capacity as a lawmaker and with help from Taiwanese representatives
in Europe.
Expressing regret over Lin’s eviction, Taiwan’s representative office in Geneva
said Lin had been escorted out in accordance with WHA regulations, which
stipulate that participants cannot take slogans, flyers or propaganda material
into the conference hall.
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