Beijing okays technical cooperation between WHO and Taiwan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-17 14:20

China has signed an agreement with the UN health agency to allow technical cooperation with Taiwan, health minister Gao Qiang said.

The announcement of the deal came after the World Health Organisation's annual assembly earlier Monday rejected Taiwan's bid to gain observer status at the WHO for a ninth consecutive time.

Under the agreement the WHO can invite Taiwan experts to participate in technical activities and send its experts to the island to provide assistance and investigate epidemics.

Gao said the agreement, of which Taiwan authorities were not informed about in advance, "is a big gift to our Taiwan compatriots."

China has opposed the island's attempts to get observer status at the WHO, but did let a WHO team travel there in 2003 at the height of the SARS epidemic.

The agreement was "a stable and legitimate way for the Taiwan compatriots to communicate with the WHO," said Gao.

Taiwan was forced out of the WHO in 1972, a year after it lost its United Nations' "China" seat to Beijing.

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