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Memo says Taiwan not
a party to IHR
UNINVITED? A WHO document said Taiwan could not
be a party to the International Health Regulations, as it was a ‘province of
China,’ contradicting government claims
By Vincent Y. Chao / Staff Reporter
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.
Taiwan’s inability to be a party in the IHR is “consistent with that
resolution,” it said.
The memo’s assertions come as a direct contradiction to remarks from officials
in President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, who have hailed Taiwan’s
inclusion in the IHR in 2009, when Taiwan was allowed to attend the annual WHA
meeting as an observer. The administration insists Taiwan’s admission did not
require Beijing’s approval.
Fadela Chaib, a WHO spokesperson who checked with the body’s legal counsel,
confirmed to the Taipei Times that Taiwan “is part” of the IHR, but did not
expand on the extent of its participation.
Refusing to elaborate on the contradiction with the internal memo, she said that
“Taiwan, China” is a part of the globally binding health regulations.
In Taipei, Department of Health (DOH) officials said Taiwan was “without doubt”
a participant in the global rules aimed at enhancing public health. Taiwan
voluntarily complied with the regulations in 2006 and officially became a party
to it in 2009, officials said.
“There’s no question about it. Taiwan has been a participant in the IHR since
2009,” DOH spokesperson Wang Jet-chau (王哲超) told the Taipei Times.
Wang said communications between Taipei and the two WHO-appointed “contact
points” had been ongoing and contradicted the statement that Taiwan cannot be
party to the regulations because of its lack of official statehood.
The statement is included in the memo’s “talking points” WHO officials should
use when responding to questions from outside the body about Taiwan’s status
based on an arrangement between the WHO and Beijing.
Kuan also said another contentious aspect of Taiwan’s relationship with the WHO
was an IHR expert roster that listed a former DOH deputy chief as from “Taiwan,
China.”
The document, released separately by Kuan’s office, is consistent with the first
memo that dictates the proper terminology for Taiwan as “the Taiwan Province of
China.”
Dated Jan. 15, the roster singles out former DOH deputy minister Chang Shan-chwen
(張上淳).
“Our representatives apparently have to attend [WHO] expert sessions under the
designation from [China] and Chang is no different,” Kuan said in remarks that
Chang immediately rejected.
Chang, who had stepped down from the post when the roster was published, said
yesterday he had heard that a Taiwanese expert encountered the problem earlier
this year, but said that it was not he.
“If something like this did happen, I would never have participated in the
[WHO],” he said, insisting that he was called “Dr Chang” at all times during the
IHR expert sessions.
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