Taiwan protests downgraded OIE membership

"The seven-member Taiwan delegation to the OIE annual conference issued a formal protest immediately after the OIE passed the unjustifiable resolution on the final day of its current session," Chang told an evening news conference.

The resolution reads that the OIE notes China's view that the People's Republic of China is China's only legitimate government of the "whole" of China, which it describes as including Taiwan, and that Taiwan can only take part in the OIE as a "non-sovereign regional member" under the appellation of "Chinese Taipei."

Noting that the "one China" notion adopted in the resolution is far from truth, Chang said the resolution does not change the reality that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been ruled separately for more than five decades and that the Republic of China on Taiwan is an independent sovereign country.

"We'll never accept the OIE's downgrading of Taiwan's sovereign status," Chang said. Nevertheless, she said, Taiwan will continue to take part in OIE activities as a full member while reluctantly accepting its new moniker "Chinese Taipei."

The resolution was passed with a vote of 113-12, with five abstentions, Chang said, adding that while the United States gave a thumbs-up to the resolution, Japan abstained.

Stressing that the OIE charter doesn't contain any notion or stipulation regarding the so-called "non-sovereign regional member, " Chang said the newly passed resolution cannot be legally justified.

She also expressed deep regret over the OIE's failure to uphold its professional stancein submitting to China's political maneuvering.

Speaking on the same occasion, Lin Yung-lo, director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of International Organizations, said that despite the resolution, Taiwan's OIE membership rights will not be affected.

Taiwan joined the OIE in 1954 under the name of "Republic of China (Taiwan), "but was forced to change the name to "Taipei China" after Beijing was admitted to the organization in 1992.

However, China remains dissatisfied with the alteration. In an attempt to push the OIE to make further concession to change Taiwan's membership name, China has refused not only to participate in OIE activities, but also to pay its membership fees.

To try to resolve the problem, the OIE International Committee passed a resolution in 2003 to change Taiwan's membership name from "Taipei China" into "Separate Quarantine Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. "

At that time, Taiwan made clear that it would accept the new name but China refused to accept the resolution and did not take part in the final vote on the issue.

With animal epidemics drawing increasing concern, the OIE tried again this year to resolve the issue and finally passed the resolution Friday.

After the passage of the resolution, the OIE issued a statement saying that China will restore its participation in the OIE activities after a 15-year row over the participation of Taiwan.

The statement further said Taiwan will remain a member but under the appellation of "Chinese Taipei."

"This is a historic vote for our organization, " OIE Director General Bernard Vallat said. "Nowadays, an effective control of animal diseases,includingzoonosis,requires more and more transparent information and cooperation from member countries, " he said.

"The international community cannot afford to have gaps in the management of sanitary information and counting both Taiwan and China among our active members will further improve the animal disease situation in the world," he said.

From 1992 and until today's vote, Taiwan was officially known as "Taipei China" in the OIE. Beijing had lobbied for the moniker of "Taiwan, China, " a name that Taipei rejected, arguing it implied Taiwan was subordinate to the People's Republic.

"With today's vote, the OIE becomes one of the first and few internationalorganizations whose members have facilitated and reached an agreement to have both China and Chinese Taipei as active members," the OIE said in its news release.