Re: "SARS: Secrecy can kill," Wednesday Editorials. As a Taiwanese American, I am proud to see that The Dallas Morning News is the first newspaper that  in light of the current SARS crisis  urges China to put its politics aside and let Taiwan join the World Health Organization.

The SARS crisis brings to the forefront the irreparable consequences of the World Health Organization's exclusion of the 23 million people of Taiwan. Taiwan has recorded dozens of cases, but because the WHO has repeatedly rejected Taiwan's plea for inclusion, doctors in Taiwan do not have direct access to the medical resources of the WHO, cannot receive direct help and are not properly equipped to combat this immense threat.

Disease knows no borders.

Instead of focusing on the health needs of Taiwan's people, the WHO bases its decisions on China's rejection of Taiwan's membership. It is ironic that the WHO itself now places the health of an entire nation in jeopardy.

Taiwan must be granted observer status at the annual WHO summit in Geneva next month, starting a progressive resolution of Taiwan's membership into the WHO and all other international organizations.

Ming-chi Wu, Denton