The seven-member Taiwan delegation to the OIE annual conference issued a formal protest immediately after the OIE passed the unjustified resolution on the final day of its 75th session in Paris, France, Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chang Siao-yue as saying at a press conference held in Taipei the same day.
Titled "Restoration of the exercise of the legal rights and obligations of the People's Republic of China to the World Organization for Animal Health," Resolution No. 20 stated that the International Committee--the highest authority of OIE--affirmed adherence to the PRC's "one-China" policy and noted China's view that the PRC government was the sole legal government representing the whole of China, including Taiwan, thus resolving to restore the legal rights and obligations of the People's Republic of China within the OIE as a sovereign state member of the OIE.
While resolving that Taiwan would continue to participate in the OIE as a non-sovereign regional member, the committee decided it would be known as "Chinese Taipei" instead of "Taipei China" in all OIE activities, documents and publications.
The committee requested the OIE director general to take all necessary actions to achieve this goal before the 76th General Session, scheduled to take place in 2008.
Noting that the "one-China" viewpoint mentioned in the resolution was far from reality, Chang said the fact that the Republic of China was an independent sovereign country remained unchanged, adding that Taiwan would absolutely not accept being downgraded as a "non-sovereign regional member," the CNA reported May 25.
Taiwan would continue to participate in OIE activities as a full member while reluctantly accepting its new moniker "Chinese Taipei," Chang added, stressing that, since the OIE charter did not contain stipulations regarding so-called non-sovereign regional members, the new resolution could not be legally justified.
John Chen, a delegate for "Taipei China"--the name Taiwan had used since PRC accession to the organization in 1992--stated that the OIE was not a political organization but merely a technical one. According to the session's draft report, the former director-general of MOFA's Department of International Organizations, who is currently Taiwan's representative to New Zealand, added that Article 2 of the OIE Organic Statutes stipulated the world body could not interfere in the administration of its various member states, and there was no legal basis regarding the sovereignty of a state within the OIE.
Chen considered the draft resolution unacceptable, since, in its relations with Taipei China, the OIE dealt directly with Taiwan's health authorities and not those of China.
Nevertheless, the draft records showed that the resolution was adopted by a large majority, with 12 countries voting against and five countries abstaining. After the vote, Chen strongly called on OIE member states to amend the resolution, the CNA report noted.
For its part, the OIE described Resolution No.20 as succeeding "in bringing China and Taiwan to fully participate together in the organization's activities," thus ironically contradicting the resolution by immediately referring to Taiwan on its own Web site.
"This is a historical vote for our organization," Bernard Vallat, OIE director general, said in a May 25 press lease by the organization. Vallat stressed that effective control of animal diseases required ever more transparent information and cooperation from member states. The international community could not 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 added, also mentioning Taiwan by name.
The announcement noted that, with the May 25 vote, the OIE became one of few international organizations whose members had reached an agreement to have both China and Chinese Taipei as active members.
Write to Edwin Hsiao at edwinhsiao@mail.gio.gov.tw