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Updated Tuesday, May 24, 2011 11:29 pm TWN, By Joseph Yeh, The China Post

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Health and foreign ministries defend protest made at WHA

The China Post--Taiwan's health minister and deputy foreign minister yesterday defended the protest the country filed in the World Health Assembly (WHA) over a World Health Organization (WHO) memorandum that referred to the country as a“province of China” in response to criticism from the opposition party that blasted the protest as being too weak.

“I have done my best and I felt quite satisfied with my performance at the assembly even though there is still much room for improvement,”said Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta during a legislative hearing yesterday.

Aside from filing a strongly-worded official letter of protest to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan over the name issue, Chiu said he also gave addresses for three times at the WHA and at separate events during his time in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the addresses, Chiu said he clearly explained Taiwan's sovereign status.

His protest was supported by Taiwan's diplomatic allies. Many international media have also widely covered the protest, he added. However, Chiu said he regretted the WHO has not yet responded to Taiwan's open protest so far.

Meanwhile, at a separate occasion during another legislative hearing yesterday, Deputy Foreign Minister Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) gave high credit to Chiu over the WHO protest. Shen said Chiu had demonstrated professionalism at the WHA and in his protest letter.

Despite the strongly worded letter of protest, Chiu adopted a more gentle approach in his address, in accordance with international protocol, Shen said.

The two government official's comments came after the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday continued to blast Chiu and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) for not making a stronger protest over the name controversy.

In response to the criticism, Shen said it would be meaningless even if Chiu used foul language in the WHA to express his anger over the matter.

The protest must be conducted in accordance with international practices in order to make the point, he said.

“We are invited to attend the WHA under the heading'Chinese Taipei,'and the terminology should be used consistently in all WHO documents, that's all we are asking,”said Shen.

Translation Error

　 Also, Shen yesterday admitted error in the Chinese-translation of the official WHO protest letter which was originally written in English.

The letter opens with the paragraph that “it is with the utmost dissatisfaction that 'I'am writing to file a formal protest” over the name controversy.

Another paragraph of the letter wrote “despite these unfortunate circumstances, I nonetheless wish to express my gratitude to you for inviting me to attend the 64th WHA.”

The “I” used in the letter was referring to Chiu, who represented Taiwan in the WHA this year.

However, the Chinese version of the article mistakenly translated“I”into “我國,”which literally means“our country,”said Trong Chai (蔡同榮) yesterday in the legislative hearing.

He accused the ministry of creating a false image to Taiwanese citizens that Taiwan is protesting the matter as a country. But in reality, the letter of protest was addressed to Chan by Chiu as an individual, Chai said. In response to the allegation, Shen said the mistranslation is a technical problem and the mistake was not made intentionally to cheat the public.

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