Taiwan turns back on medical aid
(XING ZHIGANG)
05/27/2003
Beijing yesterday expressed regret over Taipei's refusal to accept its donation of medical aid as the mainland's efforts to join forces with the island in fighting SARS suffered another major setback. An unidentified official with the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) accused the Taiwan authorities of politicizing the health issue at the expense of the health and well-being of the people. In a statement issued yesterday, the official said a handful of politically motivated separatist members of the Taiwan administration had taken the move. The Taiwanese move has "gone against the will of the Taiwanese people and badly hurt the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits," said the official. It is the second time in a fortnight that the island has rebuffed offers of help by the mainland. On May 12, the China Red Cross on the mainland offered to provide the island with medical aid, but its Taiwan counterpart rejected the offer. The ARATS also levelled criticism at its Taiwanese counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), for betraying its primary role of serving the benefits and welfare of Taiwanese people. The ARATS and SEF are two semi-official bodies responsible for cross-Straits ties in the absence of official links between Taiwan and the mainland. The ARATS official said the SEF notified them on Sunday of its refusal to accept the mainland's offer to donate medical aid and send a health-care team to the island, while at the same time making unfounded allegations in respect of the mainland's move.
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