eASTiNwEST / 小黃不是狗

It was reported by the Associated Press on Friday 11 May 2007 that (URL):  
“President Chen Shui-bian on Friday made a final plea for Taiwan to be admitted as a member of the World Health Organization, three days ahead of a crucial meeting that will almost certainly reject his appeal.”

He also wrote “The Shunning of a State“ to the Washington Post, expressing his views on the secret pact of the WHO with China to allow Taiwan any meaningful participation subjecting to China’s approval, the presence of the Palestinian Authority and Malta Order of Chivalry in WHO, and the circulation of East Germany’s application to join the WHO in 1968 (in spite of rejection as a non-nation state).

Today (12 May 2007), Taiwanese are walking to “Be WHO! ” in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

My two pennies – The Western World IS increasingly giving in to ANY DEMAND of China, be it privacy breaches for its Internet censorship or denying Taiwan (formerly known as the Republic of China) any meaningful participation in the WHO (because it has no nation state status), due to the equally rising power of the Dragon in the East. The fact that the Director-General of WHO, Margaret Chan (former Director of Health in Hong Kong nominated to WHO by China who is said to be “too mindful to protocol even in emergencies” according to TIME.com’s Bryan Walsh), delivered the “not a nation state” reason, is sad and suspicious. The WHO’s greatest concern, according to Chan herself, ”must always rest with disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. These groups are often hidden, live in remote rural areas or shantytowns and have little political voice”. Talking about political voice, Taiwan certainly hasn’t got one, for nearly a century soon! Even if the reality for Taiwan to share the “one nation, two systems” model of Hong Kong is highly likely, Taiwanese as citizens of our world (which the United Nations is meant to guard) shouldn’t be refused the basic human rights of health in the immediate future! The country required help from the WHO for the earthquake in 1999 and SARS in 2003 to state the least. The Americans don’t support Taiwan’s application this time, even though seven senators wrote a petition to Margaret Chan, stressing that the decision on Taiwan’s application should lie with all the WHO’s member states. My instinctive suspicion is that the Westerners would rather let the people of Chinese origin to settle their own scores as usual, just like the old days in their colonial manners. However, living in a foreign land permanently myself, I choose to believe in the humanity we speak about so much in modern times. My last words are – we, as human beings, mustn’t sacrifice our moral values in the face of economic gains or political pressure and remember what goes round comes round. 

Read more about Margaret Chan online at WHO site or Wikipedia.