ITALY - TAIWAN: NO SUPPORT FOR WHA OBSERVERSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001836 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EAP AND IO E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2014 TAGS: AORC PREL TW IT WHO SUBJECT: ITALY - TAIWAN: NO SUPPORT FOR WHA OBSERVERSHIP REF: STATE 102782 CLASSIFIED BY: POL M/C TOM COUNTRYMAN FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D). (C) CRISTINA RAVAGLIA, MFA EAST ASIA OFFICE DIRECTOR, SAID THAT ITALY AND THE EU, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR ONE-CHINA POLICY, DO NOT SUPPORT WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY (WHA) OBSERVERSHIP FOR TAIWAN. RAVAGLIA STATED THAT IF THE ISSUE WERE TO BE DISCUSSED AT THE UPCOMING WHA, THE ITALIANS WOULD SUPPORT A "PRAGMATIC TECHNICAL SOLUTION" THROUGH WHICH TAIWAN COULD PARTICIPATE BUT WOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER OBSERVERSHIP. RAVAGLIA PROPOSED THE IDEA OF AN NGO REPRESENTATIVE BUT EMPHASIZED THAT NEITHER ITALY NOR THE EU WOULD SUPPORT ANY FORM OF OFFICIAL TAIWANESE PARTICIPATION. VISIT ROME'S CLASSIFIED WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/EUR/ROME/INDEX.CF M SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME01836 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL