Thirteen allies and like-minded countries had as of Tuesday shown their support for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting.
After the US, Germany and the UK voiced their support as the WHA opened in Geneva, Switzerland, additional countries spoke out on Tuesday, the second day of the assembly.
During the fourth plenary meeting of the 72nd WHA, Palauan Minister of Health Emais Roberts thanked many nations, including the US and Japan, for providing health and infrastructure support to Palau, and took the time to highlight Taiwan’s contribution.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Health and Welfare
“There is one partner not present in this room and over the past three years since I’ve been here, I have not seen them. They have helped Palau achieve its SDG [UN Sustainable Development Goals] goals and also supported Palau for the past 20 years,” Roberts said.
“They are ranked ninth in the Bloomberg Health Efficiency Index. They are champions of universal healthcare and there are 23 million of them,” he said. “Thank you, Taiwan.”
“Palau does not dispute who is right or wrong in this arena. We all try to do the right thing, sometimes from a different perspective,” Roberts added.
“When we are gathered here at the WHA talking about universal healthcare, no one left behind, I believe that by excluding Taiwan from sharing their success in the WHA, it is not Taiwan who is left behind, but us at the WHA. Palau believes Taiwan can help,” he said.
Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam voiced her country’s indirect support for Taiwan during the plenary meeting.
“The global community has made great strides in improving the health of populations. We should be proud of that, but there is still more to do,” Tam said. “To achieve our goal, we need to work together to see beyond our differences. Politics should not impede people’s access to the global health system.”
“Canada remains committed to building a health community where everyone is included, regardless of who they are or where they live,” she added.
Honduran Secretary of Health Claudia Quiroz said that to achieve the SDGs and other global health agenda targets, her country must work together at the national and international levels.
It is important to highlight the continuing and indispensable support provided to Honduras by certain governments, including Taiwan, a partner and an ally in the promotion of health for many years, Quiroz said, adding that developing a healthier world clearly means leaving no one behind.
Guatemalan Minister of Health Carlos Enrique Soto Menegazzo lauded Taiwan’s contributions in the healthcare sector.
He thanked Taiwan for having collaborated with Guatemala in broadening health coverage for pregnant women and for providing medical supplies that have allowed the country to improve its health system and enhance emergency preparedness, as well as developing strategies for addressing communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Earlier that day, during the third plenary meeting, Japanese Vice Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Shintani Masayoshi said that regions should not be left out and denied the right to participate, even as observers.
“We think that questions relating to global health cannot be dealt with simply on the basis of political concerns. We believe therefore that the participation of Taiwan as an observer here is essential to help us achieve the goals of this organization,” Paraguayan Minister of Health Julio Mazzoleni said.
Taiwan’s absence puts obstacles in the way of the nation’s exchange of crucial information with other nations, he said, adding that its exclusion would not help the WHO objectives of guiding and promoting world health.
Due to its “one China” principle, Beijing blocked the WHO from inviting Taiwan to the WHA for the third consecutive year since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office.
Taiwan attended the gathering from 2009 to 2016 as an observer when its relations with China were better.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar restated his support for Taiwan to have a voice at the WHA during a bilateral meeting with Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and other Taiwanese health officials in Geneva.
Despite Chinese obstruction, a delegation led by Chen has taken part in peripheral meetings on the sidelines of the WHA and continues to be a voice for Taiwan.
On the first day of the WHA, Azar said that he supports calls for Taiwan to regain observer status at the WHA.
“We regret that once again Taiwan was not invited to observe at this assembly as they were from 2009 to 2016. The 23 million people in Taiwan deserve a voice just as much as anyone else does,” he said.
At the bilateral meeting, topics such as disease prevention, training for public health personnel and the National Health Insurance (NHI) system were discussed.
Shortly after the meeting ended, Azar posted on Twitter a photograph of him and Chen shaking hands, writing: “Met with Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung. We discussed #globalhealth issues and #Ebola. The people of #Taiwan need a voice at #WHA.”
Chen said he thanked Azar for publicly supporting Taiwan as the US secretary of health and human services and for privately communicating with WHO officials, adding that the two men had a pleasant and fruitful discussion.
“They were very interested in the experiences we shared, especially about our NHI system and the NHI-MediCloud system,” he said.
“I felt glad and proud during our discussion, because we have achievements that the US is interested in learning from,” he said.
They also reached a consensus on the establishment of an exchange platform for disease prevention information, Chen said.
The Food and Drug Administration expressed its hope of establishing a mutual inspection and verification mechanism with its US counterpart and of having Taiwanese personnel receive professional training from the US agency, he added.
On Tuesday, Chen and the delegation members attended four forums and held bilateral meetings with the Solomon Islands and the US.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from