Shut out of WHO, Taiwan faces flight bans, update delays in virus crisis

EVA Airways

03/02/2020 06:13

By Ben Blanchard
    TAIPEI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Shut out of the World Health
Organization, Taiwan is facing a dual problem in tackling the
threat of a new coronavirus: it is being included as a high-risk
area as part of China but is unable to get epidemic information
firsthand.
    Taiwan is denied membership of most international
organisations including the WHO, a U.N. agency, due to the
objections of China, which considers it a Chinese province with
no right to participate unless it accepts it is part of China,
something Taiwan's government will not do.
    Taiwan has long complained about China's belittling of it on
the international stage and its forcing of foreign governments
and companies to refer to it as part of China. 
    Now, with the virus biting, Taiwan says this policy means it
has become collateral damage, as despite having only 10 cases
compared with more than 17,000 in China, where the virus emerged
in December, the WHO is lumping Taiwan's cases together with
China's.
    The consequences of that became evident on the weekend when
the government said Taiwan's largest airline, China Airlines
 2610.TW , had been included in an Italian ban on flights from
China because the WHO lists Taiwan under China as part of a
high-risk virus area.
    Bob Chen, the head of the Taiwan foreign ministry's
Department of International Organisations, said they had
complained repeatedly to the WHO to stop listing Taiwan as part
of China.
    "But to date, the WHO's secretariat's attitude has been very
hard-line. It's very obvious that under China's pressure they
can't show flexibility," he said on Sunday.
    However, the WHO, while still listing Taiwan as part of
China, is now referring to it as "Taipei", rather than "Taiwan,
China" as it did in its initial situation reports, Chen said.
    "It's a small change, but from our perspective it's still
far from enough. The biggest problem is they are still putting
us under China."
    In a rare diplomatic success for Taiwan, it managed on
Saturday to get Vietnam to lift its ban on flights to the
island, which it had also initially listed under China.
    China Airlines says its Rome flights remain suspended as
Taiwan pressed Italy for them to be resumed.
    Taiwan's other main airline, Eva Airways  2618.TW , is due
to start flights to Milan this month. It said it had no
information on whether they would go ahead.
    Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said the island's
diplomats around the world were working to ensure more countries
do not stop flights from Taiwan. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2A202P
    The WHO's office in Beijing and Italy's foreign ministry did
not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    
    'LIMITED' INFORMATION
    China has denied seeking to make life difficult for Taiwan
during this outbreak, with the government saying it has ensured
Taiwan is kept informed and "nobody cares more" about Taiwan's
people than Beijing's government.
    Wang Liang-yu, Taiwan's de facto ambassador in Geneva where
the WHO is based, told Reuters the procedures needed to be
changed as existing WHO channels provided only "limited"
information.
    "The WHO should not hint that bilateral channels are enough
to replace international cooperation," she said.
    The WHO says it is collaborating closely with Taiwan
authorities through International Health Regulations (IHR)
mechanisms in response to the outbreak, referring to a 2005
legal instrument governing health reporting requirements.
    "WHO works with Taiwanese health officials, following
established procedures, to facilitate fast and effective
response, including through the IHR," said spokesman Tarik
Jasarevic, adding that Taiwan officials had been invited to
attend WHO technical meetings last year.
    Taiwan Centres for Disease Control deputy head Chuang
Jen-hsiang said the island can get coronavirus information but
it has to wait for information to appear on WHO websites,
meaning they don't immediately get access to it.
    "There is a time gap, but we can see it," he said.

 (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Yimou Lee,
and Se Young Lee in Beijing, Emma Farge in Geneva and Gavin
Jones in Rome
Editing by Robert Birsel)
 ((ben.blanchard@thomsonreuters.com;))