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TAIPEI / GENEVA (Reuters) – World Health Organization member countries on Monday rejected a U.S.-backed call for Taiwan to be allowed to attend a meeting of WHO’s decision-making body.
Washington, which announced under outgoing President Donald Trump that it will resign from the WHO in part because of what it describes as a pro-China bias, has lobbied for the organization to allow Taiwan to attend meetings as an observer. Beijing, which says the island is part of China, rejects it.
The WHO’s 194-state annual decision-making assembly will be held via video conference this week after being suspended in May amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Assembly Speaker Keva Bain said a committee had recommended not approving a proposal to include Taiwan as an observer, which had been endorsed by about 14 states.
Chinese Ambassador Chen Xu said the proposal to include Taiwan “violates the purpose and principles of the UN Charter and rejects the ‘One China’ principle.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday night blamed China’s “obstruction” for blocking its assistance. Taiwan maintained observer status with the WHO between 2009 and 2016. It has complained that its exclusion makes it difficult to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“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,” said.
Taiwan is excluded from most world organizations due to objections from China, which considers the island as one of its provinces without the right to the trappings of a sovereign state.
The WHO says it is cooperating with Taiwan on health issues, including aspects of the pandemic, and that the island has received the help it needs, but that it is up to member states to decide whether to invite it to the meeting.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Emma Farge, and Stephanie Nebehay; Edited by Lincoln Feast and)
