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The fear of swine flu circling the globe highlights how important it is for governments to cooperate in fighting disease. On this front, there's no more welcome news than the cross-Strait thaw that prompted the World Health Organization Tuesday to invite Taiwan to participate in its annual meeting next month.

The invitation is a serious step in the slow courtship between Beijing and Taiwan that has played out since Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office last May. Taiwan has applied every year since 1997 to attend the WHO's annual assembly as an observer, a status granted to organizations like the Red Cross and Palestine Liberation Organization. Beijing invariably quelched the requests with angry pronouncements that including Taiwan would violate China's "sovereignty." The WHO...