Taipei - Taiwan is to re-emerge on the world stage nearly
four decades after being expelled from the United Nations by sending
a delegation Friday to the World Health Assembly.
After perseverance from Taiwan, pressure from the international
community and improved Taiwan-China ties, the World Health
Organization (WHO) has allowed Taiwan to attend the assembly, set for
Monday through May 22, as an observer, becoming the first UN
organization to make such a move since Taiwan's UN membership was
revoked in 1971.
Although the Taiwan delegation is to attend the meeting in Geneva
under the name of Chinese-Taipei - as required by China, which sees
Taiwan as its province - Taipei considers its presence at the
assembly as a breakthrough in its battle to break out of its
international isolation.
Health Minister Yeh Chin-chuan is to lead a 15-member delegation
at the assembly and plans to donate 5 million US dollars to the WHO
to show Taiwan's support for the UN agency's work.
'We will donate 5 million US dollars worth of medicines and
vaccines to help Third World countries,' he told reporters.
Yeh is to address the 193-member assembly on Taiwan's work in
fighting epidemics and express Taipei's wish to contribute to global
efforts to fight diseases and epidemics.
'We will hold talks with the health ministers from the United
States and the European Union and do not rule out discussing with
China's health minister issues of mutual concern,' he said.
Taiwan has been the seat of the Republic of China since 1949 when
China's ruling Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War to the
Communists and fled to Taiwan to set up their government-in-exile.
Taipei continued to hold China's seat in the United Nations until
1971 when it was expelled in favour of the Communist-led government
in Beijing as the legitimate representative of China.
Taiwan has been campaigning to rejoin the United Nations and
UN-affiliated organizations, but the chances of its success are slim
because China bars Taiwan from joining international groups whose
membership is open only to sovereign states.
However, as Taipei-Beijing ties have improved since Taiwan
President Ma Ying-jeou took office a year ago, China said that under
the 'one China' principle, Beijing would consider Taiwan's demand to
join international organizations.
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