By Oyintari Ben
Despite China’s attempts to isolate the democratically run island, Taiwan said it still hoped to be invited to the opening of the annual assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Joseph Wu stated that a number of diplomatic allies and friendly nations had expressed support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO assembly, which will take place from May 21 to May 30, or had scheduled bilateral talks in conjunction with it.
“Support for us is stronger than in the past,” Wu said during a news conference on Thursday in Taipei.
Although we have yet to get an invitation letter for the assembly this year, we haven’t given up and continue to make our demands known to the WHO in various ways.
China, which claims the island as its own despite Taiwan’s claims that it is an independent republic, has objected to Taiwan’s inclusion in most international organisations.
After China prevented Taiwan from attending the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2017, the island launched a diplomatic effort to become an observer at the annual conference.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the WHO to welcome Taiwan as an observer in a statement earlier this month, prompting a rebuke from China.
The de facto embassies for the Czech Republic, Germany, Canada, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Australia, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom in Taiwan released a joint statement on Thursday reiterating their support for Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Assembly.
According to the statement, the WHA is the premier global health forum, and Taiwan’s exclusion from it “undermines inclusive global public health cooperation and security.”
Taiwan claims that by being excluded from the WHO, attempts to combat the COVID-19 epidemic were hampered. Taiwan is permitted to attend some technical WHO meetings.
China has increased its diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan in recent years in an effort to compel the island to recognise Chinese sovereignty. The 23 million residents of Taiwan’s island can only decide their destiny, according to the government, which opposes China’s claims.
