TAKING A STAND:Huang Kuo-chang said the WHO invitation is another slap in the face of Ma’s cross-strait policy. The NPP also said three Cabinet agencies should be closed
Taipei Times
Date: May 11, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
The Legislative Yuan should formally lodge a protest over the WHO’s invitation to Taiwan to attend
Northern Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-shen, center, yesterday speaks at a news conference in Taipei called by the society to criticize the WHO for “getting involved in politics.” Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA), the New Power Party (NPP) caucus said as it introduced a legislative proposal to do just that, one of two motions it lodged yesterday.
NPP lawmakers also submitted a proposal to abolish the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Veterans Affairs Council and the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, saying the three organizations are inefficient and their roles and responsibilities overlap with other government agencies.
The WHO invitation issued last week for the annual meeting has aroused controversy in Taiwan because, unlike previous invites, it cites UN Resolution 2758 and the “one China” principle.
“The history of Taiwan’s participation in the WHA has been an embarrassing one. In an internal memo sent in 2010, the WHA recognized Taiwan as ‘the Taiwan Province of China.’ This year’s invitation was another slap [in the face] to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) support of the ‘one China, different interpretations’ policy,” NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.
Referencing a comment by China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Vice Chairman Sun Yafu (孫亞夫) that president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural address could affect Taiwan’s chances of joining the WHA, he said Beijing cannot expect to partner with Taiwan while repeatedly making threats. [FULL STORY]
