<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1377&dept_id=172925&newsid=16665535&PAG=461&rfi=9[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]China policy trumps health needs in bird flu discussion[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Public health authorities have explained for months that the world faces a possible pandemic from bird flu. International cooperation is essential to prepare against such a disturbing prospect. Public health needs, after all, transcend political borders.[/FONT]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yet, in one glaring instance, selfish national politics is trumping common-sense cooperation on public health needs.[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The culprit is China. Its government insists that the island nation of Taiwan - which China claims as part of its territory - should be forbidden from cooperating with the World Health Organization. The WHO is the central body for international public health initiatives.
Because of China's small-minded refusal to budge, Taiwan is not allowed to have even observer status at the WHO - even though such status is granted to three international organizations and six entities, including a quasi-state (Palestine) and a political organization (the Order of Malta).
Leaving Taiwan out of the international effort to prepare for the bird flu is ludicrous. Taiwan (which, in contrast to China, has a democratically elected government) is a nation of some 23 million people - a population larger than those of 75 percent of the WHO's member states.
Taiwan is a busy transit point for travelers. The country lies on 13 international flight routes. In 2005, the number of outbound travelers from the country numbered 10 million. The number of inbound visitors exceeded 3 million.
Taiwan has a record of energetic participation in international humanitarian efforts. And the island nation needlessly suffered in 2003 during the SARS outbreak, when China thwarted Taiwan's coordination with the WHO.
Protests by the United States and other representatives likely would have little effect on China's intransigence. But the outrageous nature of Beijing's actions indeed deserves scorn from the rest of the world community.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]China policy trumps health needs in bird flu discussion[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Public health authorities have explained for months that the world faces a possible pandemic from bird flu. International cooperation is essential to prepare against such a disturbing prospect. Public health needs, after all, transcend political borders.[/FONT]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yet, in one glaring instance, selfish national politics is trumping common-sense cooperation on public health needs.[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The culprit is China. Its government insists that the island nation of Taiwan - which China claims as part of its territory - should be forbidden from cooperating with the World Health Organization. The WHO is the central body for international public health initiatives.
Because of China's small-minded refusal to budge, Taiwan is not allowed to have even observer status at the WHO - even though such status is granted to three international organizations and six entities, including a quasi-state (Palestine) and a political organization (the Order of Malta).
Leaving Taiwan out of the international effort to prepare for the bird flu is ludicrous. Taiwan (which, in contrast to China, has a democratically elected government) is a nation of some 23 million people - a population larger than those of 75 percent of the WHO's member states.
Taiwan is a busy transit point for travelers. The country lies on 13 international flight routes. In 2005, the number of outbound travelers from the country numbered 10 million. The number of inbound visitors exceeded 3 million.
Taiwan has a record of energetic participation in international humanitarian efforts. And the island nation needlessly suffered in 2003 during the SARS outbreak, when China thwarted Taiwan's coordination with the WHO.
Protests by the United States and other representatives likely would have little effect on China's intransigence. But the outrageous nature of Beijing's actions indeed deserves scorn from the rest of the world community.
