More than 5,000 people in Japan have signed a petition supporting Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, this month.
The petition was initiated by Taiwan-linked non-governmental groups.
Taiwan has not received an invitation to attend the May 20 to 28 summit of the WHA, the WHO’s decisionmaking body, for the third consecutive year due to Chinese obstruction.
Photo: CNA
Several Taiwanese groups in Japan — including the Taiwan Benevolent Association of Northern Kyushu, the West Japan Taiwan Alumni Association and the Chinese Society of Fukushima Prefecture — initiated the petition in late March.
The groups on Saturday presented the signatures to Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who was visiting Kyushu with a delegation of healthcare officials, academics and businesspeople for the Asia-Pacific Conference.
More than 5,000 people, including Japanese healthcare professionals, politicians, businesspeople, media professionals and Taiwanese expats signed the petition, the groups said.
The government has sought to have the nation recognized, and participate in cooperation and exchanges on global healthcare issues since Taiwan was excluded from the WHA in 2016, the ministry said.
Taiwan has expertise in the medical and public health fields, so hopefully many nations and overseas Taiwanese would support the nation, allowing it to realize the concept of “health for all,” it said.
In Canada on Saturday, nearly 300 Taiwanese attended a walk event in Toronto to show support for Taiwan’s participation at the WHA and their gratitude to the Canadian government for supporting the nation’s bid.
Attendees walked and waved Republic of China (ROC) flags while holding signs that read: “Support for Taiwan,” “Thank you, Canada,” “Taiwan for WHO & WHA” and “World health needs Taiwan.”
Representative to Canada Catherine Hsu (徐詠梅) said that health is a basic human right and no one should be excluded from it for any reason.
Taiwan can make significant contributions to global disease prevention and healthcare, Hsu said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that lawmakers from the Czech Republic and Peru have expressed their support for Taiwan to participate at the WHA.
In a letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Czech lawmakers asked that Taiwan not be excluded from the body, saying it was unfair to deny the nation’s 23 million people access to the global disease prevention system.
In a separate declaration, Peruvian lawmakers praised Taiwan’s advances in the fields of healthcare and health insurance, and supported Taiwan’s professional and pragmatic participation at the WHO and WHA so that it could share its medical technology and experience with countries around the world.
Additional reporting by CNA
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS