The US Senate on Monday passed a bill that asks US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to come up with a strategy to help Taiwan regain observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA).
The Senate unanimously passed the bipartisan legislation, which was introduced by US Senator James Inhofe, cochair of the US Senate Taiwan Caucus, on Jan. 29 last year and passed by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on June 3 last year.
The bill directs “the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization,” and to present a report to the Senate “following any annual meetings of the World Health Assembly at which Taiwan did not obtain observer status.”
Photo: Reuters
“Granting Taiwan observer status at the World Health Organization would allow Taiwan to fully share its expertise in handling COVID-19 and rightfully reflect its global healthcare contributions that have been unjustly curtailed by Chinese objections,” US Senator Cory Gardner said.
The US House of Representatives passed a similar bill for the same purpose in January last year, and House and Senate members are to meet to reconcile differences in the bills and draft a final version to be passed and signed by US President Donald Trump.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its gratitude and said that Taiwan would continue to work with the US to contribute its expertise in this field.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Pompeo called on the head of the WHO to invite Taiwan to this year’s WHA, saying it is within a WHO director-general’s power to do so.
The WHO has repeatedly said that Taiwan has to come to an understanding with China on the issue before it can send an invitation allowing it to attend the WHA as an observer.
On Monday, a WHO lawyer said that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has “no mandate” to invite Taiwan to take part in its assembly next week, adding that member states had “divergent views” on its participation.
WHO principal legal officer Steven Solomon told an online news briefing that only member states could decide who attends the WHA.
Taiwan has stepped up its lobbying to be allowed to take part as an observer at the meeting of the WHO’s decisionmaking body.
China on Monday berated New Zealand for its support for Taiwan’s participation, saying that the South Pacific nation should “stop making wrong statements” on the issue to avoid damaging bilateral ties.
Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday called on Tedros to “maintain the principle of professional neutrality,” and face up to the fact that Taiwan and China do not belong to the same country.
Tedros should not be manipulated by the irrational demands of one WHO member country and should restore Taiwan’s observer status in the organization, she said.
UN Resolution 2758 stipulates that Beijing is the sole representative of China, but it does not touch upon the issue of Taiwan, and does not award China the right to represent Taiwan at the UN and its affiliated organizations, she said.
Ou also thanked New Zealand for its support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA and said that the two countries would continue to deepen their relationship.
It is regrettable that China is threatening and lambasting Wellington for its support for Taiwan, she said.
Such behavior is the cause of growing anti-China sentiment around the world, she said, adding that other countries would “not submit to China.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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