WHO GUIDELINES ON TAIWAN PARTICIPATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003261 SIPDIS STATE FPR EAP/RSP/TC PLEASE PASS TO AIT/W E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2015 TAGS: SENV TBIO TW ESTH SUBJECT: WHO GUIDELINES ON TAIWAN PARTICIPATION REF: A. TAIPEI 00990 ¶B. TAIPEI 02187 Classified By: AIT Director Douglas H. Paal, Reason: 1.4 (B/D) ¶1. (c) Summary. Taiwan Center for Disease Control (TCDC) has received a letter outlining terms for Taiwan's participation in WHO activities. Terms include: Taiwan participation be on a case-by-case basis determined by written invitation by WHO, that "experts" participate in their personal capacity, that Taiwan participants in WHO meetings and WHO representatives who visit Taiwan be below the Director-General Level, that Taiwan use the "Taiwan, China" nomenclature, and that Taiwan participants in expert meetings not engage in political activities. AIT ESTOFF was able to view the letter under the condition that AIT and the U.S. not reveal to any Taiwan officials that we have seen the letter. Taiwan has not yet formulated a response. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA),TCDC and the Department of Health (DOH) are in the process of determining Taiwan's position. The TCDC contact who provided this information was not part of that process and had no insight to offer other than that, despite AIT telling TCDC it should expect such a letter (ref A),TCDC did not believe it would materialize and was therefore quite surprised by its arrival. End Summary. -------------- Terms of Sneak Peek -------------- ¶2. (c) CDC representative Hsu Yu-chen (STRICTLY PROTECT) invited AIT ESTOFF to meet with her on August 4 to provide a discreet courtesy peek at the letter WHO sent TCDC Minister Steve Hsu-sung Kuo (STRICTLY PROTECT) on July 27. Hsu indicated that Kuo was pleased that AIT had kept Minister Kuo informed of the WHO/Taiwan/PRC negotiations prior to the May World Health Assembly and wanted to return that goodwill. That being said, Hsu made clear that Kuo was doing this on his own and did not want anyone on the Taiwan side to find out he had provided this courtesy. ESTOFF was allowed to look at the letter and take notes, but not provided a copy. -------------- Contents of WHO Letter -------------- ¶3. (c) The gist of the letter minus the courteous formalities follows: Conditions have been agreed by which the WHO Secretariat will be able to allow the participation of "medical and public health experts from Taiwan, China" in technical activities by the Secretariat. Similarly, WHO can dispatch staff and technical assistance to TCDC and "other competent Taiwanese institutions." These priviledges are subject to the following conditions and procedures: Taiwan Participation in WHO activities: - "Taiwanese (sic, throughout) medical and public health experts to participate in technical activities organized by the Secretariat may arise from the initiative of WHO or informal contacts between Taiwanese experts and competent technical units of the Secretariat." - "Taiwanese" experts will be invited on a case by case basis only. Invitation to any one meeting in no way implies general admission to others. - Invitations will be in writing from WHO and will spell out the terms of participation (financial, technical and administrative)(financial, technical and administrative). - "Taiwanese medical and public health experts" will be invited to participate in their personal capacity and "when designations of provenance are used, they shall be designated as coming from Taiwan, China." - Invitees will be under the Director-General level. - Invitees are not to engage in political activities and their participation may be terminated if they do. Dispatching of WHO staff to Taiwan: - "The activities referred to in this section may derive from the initiative of the Secretariat or from a request from your Centre or other competent technical authorities or institutions." - "The Secretariat will communicate in writing or through electronic means, depending inter alia on the urgency of situation and in any case as much advance notice as possible, about the background, modalities and conditions of any proposed activities and arrangements with particular regard to visit by WHO staff members and experts." - "It should be understood that they will only be able to initiate and accept meetings and discussions with Taiwanese medical and public health officials under the level of 'Director General.'" - "We trust that the Taiwanese side will be prepared to respect this condition so as to avoid embarrassing and counter-productive situations, which could also affect the further implementation of the arrangements described in this section." - "It should also be understood that medical and public health assistance on the part of the WHO Secretariat may consist of the dispatch of WHO staff members and experts as well as of other forms of assistance such as, for example, sending medical products and equipment or making available public health information and publications." - "The assistance in question, furthermore, may be provided on a case-by-case basis and on a continuing basis for a certain period of time, depending on the circumstance and particularly on the gravity and urgency of the public health situation or of any actual or potential public health problem." The letter concludes by noting that the purpose of the letter is to set out the general terms of cooperation and sets out the expectation that Taiwan will implement and carry out the terms in good faith with the understanding that clarifications may become necessary during the course of implementation (this para largely paraphrased). End letter. PAAL