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Hagen Hopkins / Getty-Images
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declined to offer an opinion on the position of other “Five Eyes” members, Australia, the United States and Canada, in an effort to get Taiwan to join the WHO.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says he personally believes Taiwan should rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO), but New Zealand does not have an opinion.
His response follows the prime minister dodging the controversial international question at a press conference on Tuesday.
The key allies of Australia and the United States have shifted their weight behind the move.
The question is delicate given the strained relations between China and Taiwan, and the growing tension between the United States and China over the handling of Covid-19 by China.
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In a reversal of previous support, United States President Donald Trump blamed China for not moving fast enough to contain the virus, launching a retaliatory measure to return Taiwan to the WHO, supported by Australia. .
Taiwan had WHO observer status from 2009 to 2016, when it withdrew under pressure from China.
Taiwan, like Australia and New Zealand, is being hailed as a coronavirus success story.
In January, Taiwan moved quickly to cancel flights to China in the early stages of the virus’s spread, promulgating plans that have limited the country to just six deaths during the pandemic.
Australia and the United States contend that Taiwan’s membership in the WHO would aid the global response to Covid-19 and future pandemics.
At the moment, New Zealand refuses to join ‘Five Eyes’ members, Australia, the United States and Canada.
Ardern declined to offer an opinion on the position, saying it was focused on the local response.
POOL VISION
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the Daily National Coronavirus Update for May 5.
Peters took a different opinion and declared himself a supporter.
“I’ve always been,” he said.
“You have to have all the world’s populations in the WHO if it’s going to have any meaning.”
Peters later clarified that this was his opinion “personally” without sharing the country’s real position.
“I will let you know when we make a formal announcement,” he said.
Ardern was equally derogatory.
“WHO membership is not something I have spent a lot of time thinking about right now,” he said.
“It is not my decision about WHO membership as a collective institution. There is a much larger body that makes these decisions.”
