It is a country that ranks sixth among the developed countries of the world in terms of profit opportunity recommendations (POR) in a 2007 testimony released recently on country risk assessment for investment.

Only bettered by Switzerland, Singapore, the Netherlands, Japan and Norway, Taiwan has maintained its position among the highest category at 1A, being a low-risk country suitable for investment in the report released by Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI).

BERI’s Environment Risk Assessment Report bases its assessment upon operating environment, political risk, and foreign exchange/external accounts as its three major benchmarks.

Taiwan’s current operating environment scored 72 points, coming in third internationally, behind Switzerland and Singapore, with strong indications that over the next year the country’s operational risk will continue to improve. Taiwan’s political risk scored 59 points, ranking 15th internationally and third in Asia, after Singapore and Japan.

BERI surmises that due to a surplus Taiwan’s foreign exchange/external accounts, risk factor appears strong and estimates that between this year and next year foreign direct investment will steadily increase.

And yet this is a country that has for the eleventh time on the world stage been defeated in its attempts to join the World Health Organization (WHO). Such an act by the world’s politicians serves only to deprive 23 million citizens of Taiwan of the right of full access to crucial and up-to-date health information coming from abroad.

It also denies Taiwan access to WHO by keeping the country outside the Global Outbreak Alert Response Network when the first few hours and days of a disease outbreak are critical to preventing a pandemic among the populace.

In today’s global environment with close and interlinked interests, a diplomacy defending national and political interest at the expense of global common interest should not be allowed to prevail over good sense.

Strong-arm diplomacy used by several countries in areas like environment and health, are neither beneficial nor responsible for all citizens of the world.

Conscious of its own delicate position, Taiwan has not allowed itself to be inactive when the need for assistance arose in other quarters.

In response to the serious health threats of malaria, diarrhea and Rift Valley Fever in Kenya, Taiwan in January 2007 sent its third health mission to help authorities control the diseases by providing spraying equipment, medicine, mosquito nets and laboratory expertise.

In July, Taiwan reached a consensus with the International Medical Assistance Foundation on efforts to prevent and control major international diseases such as avian flu, malaria, Rift Valley Fever, brain fever and AIDS.

In August, two days after an earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale killed 450 people in Peru, Taiwan quickly dispatched an emergency medical relief team to treat and care for the injured and to provide food and other materials to the victims.

In October, Taiwan reinforced its cooperation with six Pacific allies (Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu) to advance medical service in the Pacific Ocean, notably by developing training exchange programs aimed at meeting the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. In that Taiwan has been very proactive in lending a hand in the medical field cannot be stated enough.

Domestically, this is a very stable country that combined prosperity and democracy into its own evolution of a social democracy, very similar to what is practiced in most European countries. A free media and a social welfare scheme that covers all its citizens is not an alien culture to most Europeans.

Why then are these people being continually denied the benefits of membership to the WHO? A people who have reflected, studied and implemented the ideals of democracy and human rights as part of their culture.

Let concern for global humanity rise above warped political motives and self-interests across the world’s stage.