Taiwan gets a boost

Seattle Times: Taiwan has finally been admitted to the World Health Assembly as an observer state, giving that island of 23 million the possibility of medical support from the World Health Organization. Considering the swine-flu outbreak, it is a timely decision.

In 2003, the new disease was the deadly pneumonia SARS, which came out of China and killed more than 750 people worldwide.

When SARS hit Taiwan, officials there asked for technical help. Its request should have been honored quickly — but was not.

Because China claims Taiwan, it has kept Taiwan out of the United Nations — and out of the WHO, which is affiliated with the United Nations. When Taiwan wanted help with an epidemic, China kept public-health experts sitting in Beijing for more than a week.

Reasonable

Since then, both sides have become more reasonable. China has become more open about disease. Taiwan has elected a government less insistent on asserting the right of permanent independence.

Taiwan has now allowed in tourists from China, and the two jurisdictions have recently agreed on direct airline flights.

Whether Taiwan remains independent is a decision for later. Fighting epidemics cannot be put off.