Germany’s Bundestag on Thursday adopted a resolution calling on Berlin to push for Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities, as a delegation of Taiwanese legislators yesterday left for Switzerland to advocate for Taiwan on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly (WHA).
The resolution, backed by lawmakers across party lines, urges the German government to work within the UN’s health agency to advocate for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA and relevant WHO mechanisms and activities as an observer.
It also calls on the government to report to the Bundestag regularly about its efforts to support Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities.
In Taipei, the Ministry
By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff writer, with CNA, BERLINGermany’s Bundestag on Thursday adopted a resolution calling on Berlin to push for Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities, as a delegation of Taiwanese legislators yesterday left for Switzerland to advocate for Taiwan on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly （WHA）.
Opposition parties yesterday called for the resignations of Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) chairman Yang Wei-fu (楊偉甫) to take responsibility for the latest power outages, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) demanded an explanation from the state-owned utility.
Widespread power outages were reported across the nation, which Taipower attributed to an equipment malfunction at the Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung.
Wang should step down to assume responsibility, and Taipower should compensate the public and busineses, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus told a news conference, adding that the power failure had tarnished Taiwan’s global image.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday urged the government to suspend imports of eggs from Japan, especially from Ibaraki Prefecture, which borders Fukushima to the south.
The Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine is to import eggs from Japan until March 31, from prefectures unaffected by avian flu, the council said in a statement on Wednesday.
The caucus yesterday said the council was “going behind the public’s back” in making the deal, as the plan has was reported on the Japanese government’s Web site as early as Feb. 10, but not made public
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday called on the government to be more restrictive regarding the types of food that can be imported from Japan’s Fukushima and surrounding prefectures once an import ban is lifted.
The Executive Yuan on Tuesday last week said that Taiwan would soon allow the importation of food products that had been banned following the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.
Foods imported from the five prefectures would need certificates of origin and radiation inspection certificates, while imports of mushrooms, meat from wild animals and hill potherbs from the prefectures would still be banned, it said.
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