What behinds the blurred footing for China and Taiwan

Taiwan, China equals at WHA: Ma

05/10/2011 The China Post -- President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday said that the health ministers from Taiwan and China are on equal footing at the World Health Assembly (WHA). Ma's comment came as a clarification after a leaked World Health Organization (WHO) document shows that Taiwan is listed as a province of China. A letter sent out by WHO Secretary-General Margaret Chan last September to WHO members referred to Taiwan as "Taiwan Province of China," according to a report appearing in a local Chinese-language newspaper. In response, President Ma explained that Taiwan's minister of health will receive equal treatment as his Chinese counterpart at the WHA meeting, which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on May 16-25."The invitation letter refers to our minister under the title 'Minister of Health,'" said Ma during his meeting with overseas Taiwanese representatives in the Presidential Office building yesterday morning. "China's minister attends the same meeting on equal footing with our minister," he added. Saying that such treatment is the first time in 38 years, Ma noted that it is a result of a closer cross-strait tie ever since he took office since 2008. This will be the third consecutive year since Ma assumed office that Taiwan has been invited to attend the annual world health conference as an observer under the title "Chinese Taipei." Since Taiwan is not a U.N. member, it was previously shut out of WHA until relations with China improved under Ma's "modus vivendi" approach.

MOFA to Lodge Protest with WHO  Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it will lodge a protest to the WHO over the apparent downgrading of the country's status. "Our government will never accept the political stance as shown in this document and we will seriously protest to the WHO over the matter," said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Thomas Hou (侯平福) yesterday in a separate press conference held by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) in the Legislative Yuan. Hou added that ever since the R.O.C was removed from the U.N. General Assembly in 1971, the U.N. has regarded Taiwan as part of China, an "inappropriate title" that the government has never accepted. But Hou noted that such controversy will not affect Taiwan's participation in the upcoming WHA meeting even though the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has urged the government to withdraw as a protest. Another Deputy foreign Minister Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) yesterday said that the ministry was drafting the official protest letter. The letter will be sent to the WHO via Taiwan's representative office in Geneva, he added. DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, who also doubles as the party's presidential candidate, yesterday blasted the ruling administration for failing to pay attention to Taiwan's sovereignty. "This is a very serious matter which will have serious impact on Taiwan's international space in the future," she added. When asked to comment on the matter, Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) said he will lead the delegation to the meeting in Geneva as scheduled. He will not miss the rare opportunity to share Taiwan's expertise in the field while protecting the nation's sovereignty, Chiu added. He will protest if he is in any way mistreated or downgraded when he attends the meeting next week, he said.