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Earlier this year, several hundred children in Taiwan were sickened by a mysterious ailment which the island's authorities eventually declared to be Enterovirus 71 (certain doctors and virologists still dispute this diagnosis). Enterovirus 71 can be fatal if not treated early; it is also highly contagious. And like the Ebola hemorrhagic fever which swept through parts of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1995, it tends to emerge without warning, then - just as unexpectedly - subside.
Over the space of a few months the virus claimed the lives of more than sixty young children. To prevent the disease spreading some cities ordered the temporary closure of all kindergartens; parents were advised by Taiwan's Department of Health not to bring their infants to public places. For a great many families it was a nerve-wracking summer.
One surprising aspect of the outbreak was that, with the exception of four non-fatal cases in Hong Kong, it did not seem to spread beyond Taiwan. Millions of Taiwanese travel abroad each year; the 200,000 foreign guest workers on the island are another channel through which diseases could spread quickly. Observers predicted that cases of Enterovirus would soon crop up in Vancouver, Los Angeles, Seattle - wherever there are substantial Taiwanese communities. But this time around the rest of the world was spared.
For the sake of people in other countries - as well as for Taiwan residents themselves - it would seem essential, then, that Taiwan be fully "plugged in" to the global disease notification and containment systems which exists under the aegis of the World Health Organization. So far, however, Taiwan has had no more success in its bid to join the global health body than it has in its more public efforts to attain membership of the United Nations.
This exclusion - on political grounds alone - should strike anyone who reads the Organization's constitution as a clear breach of that charter. The document asserts that, "the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition." Furthermore, keeping Taiwan out makes a mockery of one of the Organization declared goals: "health for all in the 21st century."
This summer Rep. Sherrold Brown (D-Ohio), a member of the House sub-committee on Asia-Pacific affairs, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying: "I believe that the denial of WHO membership to Taiwan is an unjustifiable violation of its people's fundamental human rights."
The World Health Organization celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this year. Few UN agencies are more universal than WHO, which currently has 191 member states - not all of whom are necessary. The Vatican and Liechtenstein are listed by WHO as "non-member state observers." Taiwan would willingly accept the same status. But the extraordinary timidity of the international community when dealing with the People Republic of China means that, for the foreseeable future, Taiwan - the most democratic society in Chinese history - will continue to be left out in the cold.
The Vatican has been granted observer status, despite its having an outlook on birth control which directly threatens the health of women around the world. Tokelau - a South Pacific micro-state with a population of fewer than 1,500 - is an associate member. Yet Taiwan twenty-one million inhabitants have been blocked from participating in any capacity whatsoever by China, and those governments which are afraid of China.
Countries which are members of the United Nations can join simply by accepting the Organization constitution. Other countries may be admitted if their applications are approved by a simple majority vote in WHO's governing body, the World Health Assembly. Unlike the UN Security Council, there are vetoes in the Assembly. Switzerland - whose population has, in various referenda, consistently rejected UN membership - joined after the Assembly voted to accept its application. Thus there is both a procedure, and a precedent, by which Taiwan as a non-UN member could be admitted.
A territory which does not control its own international relations - Puerto Rico, for instance - may become an associate member if the country responsible for that territory's international relations applies on its behalf. Interestingly, China raised no objections when the UK sponsored Hong Kong's application to join. Yet last year, when Taiwan applied for observer status - not even full membership, mind - the bid was immediately rejected by the Director-General of WHO, Hiroshi Nakajima. The application was not even forwarded to the World Health Assembly, such is the fear of upsetting Beijing. It seems that as far as the People Republic of China is concerned, Chinese people being ruled by foreigners is one thing: a community of Chinese people successfully ruling themselves is quite another.
If enough countries were to defy China on this question and force a vote on Taiwan in the World Health Assembly, is there not a danger that China would withdraw from the body ? China's huge population, growing international clout and grave internal problems make it country which cannot be ignored. If it did come down to choosing one or the other - the People Republic of China or Taiwan - it would be sensible, if unjust, to opt for the former. But if Taiwan was to be admitted to the WHO, it is very unlikely that China would quit in protest. Beijing tolerates the island having separate membership of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum (APEC) and the Asian Development Bank; Taiwan athletes compete in international competitions under the banner "Chinese-Taipei.'
In a sense Taiwan is a victim of its own success. By not exporting missile technology to pariah states (as China has done in the past, and may still be doing), by not occupying or threatening the territory of a neighbor (think of Tibet and India's Ladakh region), and by not turning thousands of its citizens into refugees or illegal immigrants - in short by being as disruptive to international order as, say, Denmark - the island has made itself easy to forget. In international relationships as in other relationships, it is the squeaky wheel which always gets the grease.
The democratic world could - if it wanted to - help Taiwan secure observer status in the World Health Organization, even allowing for President Clinton's recent endorsement of the "three noes" - no independence for the island, no seat in the United Nations, no membership of those international organizations for which statehood
The World Health Organization celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this year. Few UN agencies are more universal than WHO, which currently has 191 member states - not all of whom are necessary. The Vatican and Liechtenstein are listed by WHO as non-member state observers." Taiwan would willingly accept the same status. But the extraordinary timidity of the international community when dealing with the People Republic of China means that, for the foreseeable future, Taiwan - the most democratic society in Chinese history - will continue to be left out in the cold.
Steven Crook was born in South Africa, educated in England, now lives in Taiwan. Mr Crook is a freelance writer who happens to carry a Swiss passport.
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