VZCZCXRO5925
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHIN #0374/01 0910546
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010546Z APR 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1263
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 4610
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 5226
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0798
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7632
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0629
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2425
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0685
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0548
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 000374 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO AIT/W AND EAP/RSP/TC 
STATE PASS USTR/ERIC ALTBACH 
USDOC FOR 4431/ITA/MAC/AP/OBP/TAIWAN 
 
TAGS: ETRD ECON PREL PGOV TW
 
SUBJECT: Taiwan Chiropractic Faces Long Road to Legalization 
 
TAIPEI 00000374  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Taiwan does not recognize chiropractic as a legitimate 
medical practice, and chiropractors operate in a legal gray area. 
Taiwan Department of Health (DOH) authorities recommend that 
chiropractors establish a chiropractic school or course of study in 
Taiwan as an intermediate step to full legalization. Local 
chiropractic doctors, however, worry that even if the Taiwan medical 
community came to accept chiropractic's clinical merits, Taiwan's 
powerful doctors' associations would pressure the authorities to 
allow only licensed medical doctors to perform chiropractic. 
Chiropractors, therefore, continue to ask the authorities to both 
lift the DOH ban on chiropractic, and pass a Chiropractic Physician 
Law containing examination and licensing provisions. End summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2. (U) The Taiwan authorities, unlike the World Health Organization 
(WHO) and most countries in East Asia, do not recognize chiropractic 
as a legitimate and distinct medical practice.  Chiropractic 
doctors, therefore, may not advertise as such, nor may they 
advertise the efficacy of their treatments.  Due to chiropractics' 
uncertain status in Taiwan, legitimate chiropractic doctors are 
frequent targets of raids by law enforcement officers, and often 
receive fines from the medical authorities based on complaints by 
dissatisfied customers. 
 
¶3. (U) In 2006, a group of Taiwan legislators sought to enact a 
WHO-consistent Chiropractic Law, modeled on a similar Hong Kong law, 
that would have permitted chiropractors trained and licensed in the 
United States or another advanced country to practice legally in 
Taiwan. The Legislative Yuan (LY), however, did not pass the bill, 
due mostly to strong opposition from medical doctors and hospital 
industry associations. 
 
DOH: Tough Road Ahead 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Economic Chief recently met with Department of Health (DOH) 
Vice Minister Chen Tzay-jinn to urge Taiwan to ease regulations on 
chiropractic. Chen suggested Taiwan's chiropractors, in order to 
gain official recognition, first introduce chiropractic techniques 
to the medical community and the Taiwan public by establishing a 
chiropractic school or course of study in a university. He said he 
knows of several schools interested in introducing chiropractic 
techniques into physical therapy curricula. Chen said chiropractors 
could build on this exposure by creating a certification process for 
domestic chiropractic doctors, and then working with the DOH and LY 
to establish an examination and licensing process. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Chen recognizes this path to recognition is long and 
difficult, and offered alternatives to formal permission.  For 
example, chiropractors could hold seminars or workshops for local 
medical associations or patients' groups in order to build up 
broader public acceptance of and demand for chiropractic, which 
could lead lawmakers to push for its legalization.  In addition, 
Chen said chiropractors can operate more openly by advertising their 
techniques as "non-medical" or "alternative" physical services. 
 
Taiwan-based Chiropractors Call for Legal Fix 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (SBU) Local chiropractors, however, want chiropractic to be 
recognized as a legitimate and distinct medical practice, not a 
non-medical service or a sub-branch of modernmedicine.  Albert Lee 
and Mark Griffin, who represent the chiropractic industry in the 
Taipei American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), recently told econoff 
 
TAIPEI 00000374  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
chiropractic doctors worry that even if they prove the legitimacy of 
chiropractic by successfully establishing a chiropractic school or 
department in Taiwan,  Taiwan's influential doctors' associations 
would convince the authorities to allow only licensed medical 
doctors to perform chiropractic. VM Chen's longer path to full 
recognition would, in their view, continue to marginalize 
chiropractic doctors. Lee and Griffin also worry that without legal 
recognition, chiropractic doctors will have no effective defense 
against lawsuits brought by unhappy patients, or "harassment" by 
police. 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to Lee and Griffin, the only fix acceptable to 
the chiropractic industry in Taiwan would be for the authorities to 
lift legal barriers to chiropractic services, and establish a 
certification and licensing process. Specifically, they want the DOH 
to amend an October 15, 2003 Executive Order in order to allow 
doctors of chiropractic who have graduated from Council on 
Chiropractic Education-accredited chiropractic colleges to perform 
chiropractic in Taiwan, and the LY to pass a Chiropractic Physician 
Law containing examination and licensing provisions. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to AmCham estimates, legitimizing chiropractic in 
Taiwan could lead to millions of dollars in annual U.S. equipment 
and education exports.  We will continue to advocate for DOH to 
amend its 2003 Executive Order banning chiropractic doctors from 
practicing in Taiwan, and recognize chiropractic as a legitimate and 
distinct medical practice.  We think the most effective way to 
achieve this goal would be within the context of bilateral Trade and 
Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks. End Comment. 
 
YOUNG