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TAIPEI: Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation to a key World Health Organization (WHO) meeting this week that is expected to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic due to “obstruction” from China, the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the island, expressing their displeasure.
The US mission in Geneva last week urged WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to invite the Chinese-claimed but democratically ruled Taiwan to the WHO decision-making body, the World Health Assembly ( AMS).
READ: WHO urged to invite Taiwan to key meeting
Late on Sunday (November 8), the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said the island had not yet received an invitation to the virtual meeting of 194 member states.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses strong regret and dissatisfaction over China’s obstruction of Taiwan’s participation in the WHO and that the WHO continues to neglect the health and human rights of the 23.5 million people of Taiwan,” added.
The WHO’s refusal to invite Taiwan based on political considerations is a mockery of the body’s claim of “health for all,” the ministry said.
Taiwan is excluded from most global organizations, such as the WHO, due to objections from China, which views the island as one of its provinces without the right to the trappings of a sovereign state.
READ: ‘China is angry’: Taiwan’s anxiety rises as saber rattling rises
The WHO says it is up to member states whether to invite Taiwan, which has been praised internationally for rapidly containing the coronavirus, to observe the WHA meeting.
Backed by the United States, Taiwan has stepped up its pressure this year to participate, infuriating China.
China’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva on Friday denounced the US’s “distorted” comments on Taiwan, saying the island can only participate if it admits to being part of China, something the Taipei government has refused to do.
The WHO says it is cooperating with Taiwan on various health matters, including aspects of the pandemic, and that the island has received the help it needs.
