A small island nation, bullied by its huge neighbor and looking for friends in the world would be a natural for Ireland, right? Well, it seems not.
Taiwan is again trying to join the UN. I'd love to imagine that the Irish government will back their bid, but I'm sure the government will defer to the EU policy, which is essentially, don't annoy China. It's not right, but I can at least understand the pragmatism of that decision.
But, why is there no Taiwan-Ireland solidarity movement/grouping? If there is one, I've never heard of it.
During the SARS scare, Taiwan was on the WHO's "don't go to list", but not even allowed to benefit from what the WHO was learning because all information had to come through China. Taiwan is not allowed to be a member of the WHO. This is not only wrong, but it has implications for people globally if an advanced democracy like Taiwan cannot fully take part in global information-sharing on possible epidemics.
