GENEVA: Member states of the World Health Organization ( WHO ) on Monday ( May 27 ) decided not to invite Taiwan to the organisation’s annual assembly in Geneva after China appealed for it to remain sidelined.
Taiwan is barred from most worldwide organizations because of objections from China, which considers the freely controlled area to be its territory.
Taiwan, under the leadership of then-President Ma Ying-jeou, who signed landmark trade and tourism agreements with China, attended the WHO’s World Health Assembly ( WHA ) from 2009 to 2016 as an observer.
However, after President Tsai Ing-wen’s victory in office in 2017, Beijing began thwarting Taiwan’s contribution because of her opposition to China’s claim that both China and Taiwan belong to “one China.”
Chen Xu, China’s continuous member to the UN in Geneva, claimed there was no social justification for Taiwan’s membership in the WHA and that Chinese officials had purposefully politicized the subject of health.
He referred to calls by Taiwan and its supporters for it to be included to better prevent epidemics as” the so-called difference in the global epidemic protection system is real nonsense.”
Ahead of the selection, Taiwanese Health Minister Chiu Tai- dollar’s said Taiwan’s presence from the assemblage was hindering epidemic prevention attempts.
” Taiwan’s involvement in the WHA and WHO is a matter of health, not elections”, he said.