VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #2009/01 1640625
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 130625Z JUN 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0642
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5301
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0612
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 4226
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7877
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 7767
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1517
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1749
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L AIT TAIPEI 002009 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
HHS FOR ERIKA ELVANDER, GENEVA FOR DAVID HOHMAN, BRUSSELS 
FOR USMISSION 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2010 
TAGS: AMED TBIO SENV PREL WHO IO TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN PLEASED WITH OUTCOME OF WHA MEETINGS: READY 
TO PUSH MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION 
 
REF: 05 TAIPEI 4852 
 
Classified By: AIT DEPUTY DIRECTOR DAVID J KEEGAN FOR REASONS 1.4 B/D 
 
 ¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Action request para 10.  VFM Michael Kau 
told AIT Acting Director that Taiwan was very pleased with 
the outcome of its pragmatic approach to the WHA Meeting in 
Geneva.  He expressed Taiwan's appreciation for support from 
the US (citing particularly Health Attache David Hohman in 
Geneva), the EU, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and from 
unexpected quarters, such as Mongolia.  Taiwan is now working 
to expand its "meaningful participation" in WHO meetings, as 
well as with GOARN and WHO regional entities.  Taiwan 
requests U.S. assistance on nomenclature which will continue 
to pose problems for future Taiwan participation.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
TAIWAN THANKS U.S. AND OTHERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2.  (C) Acting Director David Keegan (ADIR) together with 
POLOFF and ESTHOFF, met with Vice Foreign Minister Michael 
Kau, MOFA International Organizations Director-General John 
Chen and MOH Director-General Peter Chang to get a read-out 
of their participation in the WHA meetings in Geneva May 
22-24.  Kau expressed great appreciation for the assistance 
rendered to Taiwan in Geneva, especially Taiwan Minister of 
Health Hou Shen-mou's meeting with HHS Secretary Leavitt; he 
particularly expressed gratitude for the "very active and 
timely" assistance from US Mission Health Attache David 
Hohman.  He also cited the assistance of other supporters: 
Japan and its envoy in Geneva Minami; the EU, particularly EU 
Troika intervention with former WHO DG Lee about Taiwan 
participation; Canada, Australia and New Zealand; as well as 
from unexpected quarters such as Mongolia in support of 
Taiwan's meaningful participation in WHO activities.  Taiwan 
also received an e-mail copy of WHO Director-General Lee's 
letter to HHS Secretary Leavitt, Kau said.  On DG Lee's 
sudden death in Geneva, Kau suggested it was connected to two 
issues which had greatly worried Lee in the days before he 
died -- Taiwan and HAMAS' participation in WHO. 
 
¶3.  (C) Kau told the ADIR that Taiwan went to the WHA meeting 
in Geneva with four priorities:  participation in technical 
meetings, participation in WHO regional activities, GOARN 
membership, and Taiwan's International Health Regulations 
(IHRs) focal point for IHR.  On GOARN membership, Kau 
explained that WHO agreed to put Taiwan on the Outbreak 
Verification List (OVL) under TCDC Chief Stephen Kuo's name, 
but Kau argued that this was just a symbolic gesture that 
carried little substance. It may actually undercut Taiwan 
efforts at GOARN membership, he implied, since it allowed the 
PRC to argue that since Taiwan was already on the OVL list it 
 did not need to become a full fledged member of GOARN. 
(Note:  According to TCDC contacts, OVL is just an e-mail 
based information dissemination network for disease 
outbreaks; it does not provide the access to information on 
upcoming meetings that Taiwan needs. End note.) 
 
WHAT'S NEXT FOR TAIWAN? 
---------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) ADIR urged Kau and his colleagues to move forward on 
the basis of the positive results Taiwan achieved at the WHA 
and focus on next steps to continue expanding Taiwan 
participation in WHO activities in the run up to next year's 
WHA meeting.  Kau responded that Taiwan intends to continue 
taking a low key and "flexible pragmatic" approach to WHO 
pressing for meaningful participation in technical meetings. 
Taiwan had participated in 14 out of 34 technical meetings 
over the past two years, he explained and Taiwan's top 
priority now is to improve on that record.  Taiwan, he 
continued, also considers GOARN membership to be a top 
priority and hopes for U.S. support on GOARN.  ADIR suggested 
that Taiwan's near-term priority should be obtaining early 
notification of meetings and early submission of applications 
to attend.  John Chen interjected that GOARN training 
programs were a top priority for Taiwan since they were 
organized on a professional level.  He added that many 
renowned educational institutions such as Harvard University 
were members of GOARN.  ADIR asked if in that regard Taiwan 
might consider asking its medical schools to apply for GOARN 
membership as one way of circumventing the sovereign nation 
obstacle and advancing the objective of professional 
interchange. 
 
¶5.  (C)  On Taiwan's unilateral accession to the IHRs, Kau 
explained that the remaining issue was to determine Taiwan's 
"focal point" (contact point).  Another Taiwan priority, Kau 
continued, was to build on WHO's agreement that Taiwan could 
participate in some activities of WPRO, WHO's Manila-based 
Western Pacific Regional Office, to secure active, regular 
participation . 
 
NOMENCLATURE: "TAIPEI CDC" VS. "TAIWAN, CHINA" 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Chen said that often when Taiwan has been permitted 
to participate in WHO meetings over the past year, the 
invitations would be addressed to "Taipei CDC," but when the 
meeting started the delegation would be addressed as "Taiwan, 
China."  This caused much consternation back home among 
legislators and government officials.  Chen hoped the WHO 
Secretariat would be able to arrange a working compromise on 
 
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the name issue so that in the future Taiwan participation 
would not be jeopardized by nomenclature issues.  Vice 
Premier Tsai Ying-wen and several legislators were, he 
explained, very concerned about this issue.  MOH's Peter 
Chang agreed to provide AIT with a listing of meetings in 
which this name "bait and switch" occurred. 
 
COMMENT: THE WAY AHEAD 
---------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) The WHA meetings in Geneva clearly had a positive 
impact on Taiwan and could provide the  government of 
President Chen Shui-bian with maneuvering room to continue 
this step-by-step approach to enhancing Taiwan participation 
in WHO activities.  The expressions of appreciation from VFM 
Kau to the ADIR and from President Chen to AIT/W Chairman 
Burghardt June 8, together with Taiwan's pledge to continue 
low-key "flexible pragmatism" in furtherance of its 
participation in WHO activities, offer an opportunity to make 
headway over the coming year -- perhaps enough headway to 
obviate confrontation in the run up to next year's WHA 
meeting.  VFM Kau and Taiwan CDC believes and AIT concurs, 
that now is the time to begin working to increase Taiwan 
"meaningful participation" in WHO activities in the coming 
months in order to set the stage for next year's WHA.  There 
are two issues that need addressing in order to ensure 
Taiwan's meaningful participation: timely notification and 
ability to attend. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Obtaining early notification of meetings:  TCDC told 
AIT that currently Taiwan learns about a meeting through its 
contacts and then Taiwan contacts WHO about its interest in 
attending.  This ad-hoc system is not working, as Taiwan 
learns too late about the meetings or is told by WHO it 
cannot attend.  What Taiwan needs is to find a more reliable 
mechanism for timely notification, perhaps reach an 
understanding with WHO (an MOU?) for WHO to provide early 
notification to Taiwan of upcoming technical meetings. 
 
¶9.  (C)  Ensuring Taiwan is able to attend technical 
meetings:  coordination between AIT/Taipei and Taiwan 
working-level contacts, specifically AIT's ESTHOFF and Taiwan 
CDC to ensure Taiwan attends those technical meetings.  AIT 
proposes to request Taiwan CDC to notify AIT of technical 
meetings where Taiwan is experiencing, or expects to 
experience, difficulty attending.  AIT would then contact US 
WHO Mission in Geneva and Amembassy Beijing to coordinate 
appropriate action.  This effort will benefit from 
coordination with US mission in Geneva and Amembassy Beijing, 
as well as ad hoc coordination with likeminded countries, 
notably Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the EU and 
some of its individual member nations, and  Mongolia in 
support of Taiwan participation. 
 
¶10. (C) Request comments and thoughts from Department and 
U.S. Mission Geneva. 
 
KEEGAN