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
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS