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Taiwan pleased to join WHO conference on Sars in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, June 16: Taiwanese officials today hailed their participation this week in a World Health Organisation conference on Sars but stressed they were attending to talk science, not politics.
Kuala Lumpur, June 16: Taiwanese officials today hailed their participation this week in a World Health Organisation conference on Sars but stressed they were attending to talk science, not politics.
The two-day conference, which opens tomorrow, will mark the first time in 30 years that Taiwan has taken part in an event of the u.N. Health body in an official capacity, said Dr Su ih-Jen, the Taiwanese government's director general of disease control.
WHO announced on Friday that, after consulting with China, it had decided to invite disease experts from Taiwan.
China still regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has blocked Taiwan's repeated bids to join the WHO.
"This is a big breakthrough for us, to participate in the activities of the WHO,'' Su told reporters. But Taiwan _ which has suffered the world's third worst Sars outbreak with more than 80 fatalities _ did not want the conference to be a reason for tensions with China to rise, and the global fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome would be the focus, he said.
"We want to leave behind the political issues,'' Su said. "We don't want to touch the sensitive issues here. What we want to exercise is only the control of Sars and our contribution to this control.''
Bureau Report
WHO announced on Friday that, after consulting with China, it had decided to invite disease experts from Taiwan.
China still regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has blocked Taiwan's repeated bids to join the WHO.
"This is a big breakthrough for us, to participate in the activities of the WHO,'' Su told reporters. But Taiwan _ which has suffered the world's third worst Sars outbreak with more than 80 fatalities _ did not want the conference to be a reason for tensions with China to rise, and the global fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome would be the focus, he said.
"We want to leave behind the political issues,'' Su said. "We don't want to touch the sensitive issues here. What we want to exercise is only the control of Sars and our contribution to this control.''
Bureau Report