Taiwan has not received an invitation to the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), which is to be held virtually from Monday next week, and all of the nation’s diplomatic allies, except the Vatican, have tendered proposals to the WHO backing Taiwan’s bid for participation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
In the past, some of the nation’s allies chose not to make formal appeals and instead made remarks at the decisionmaking body of the WHO, but this year those that could make proposals to back Taiwan’s WHA bid have all done so, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei, describing the development as a “home run.”
The Vatican, which is only an observer at the WHA, would voice its support for Taiwan through other methods, the ministry said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
In a letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and signed by Saint Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines said that Taiwan from 2009 to 2016 had been invited to the WHA, and has had meaningful and ongoing interactions with the WHO.
“Since the election of the Democratic [Progressive] Party’s Tsai Ing-wen [蔡英文] to the presidency of Taiwan, the government of the People’s Republic of China has opposed the continuation of Taiwan’s observer-participant status at the WHA,” the letter said.
“If ever there is a time in which Taiwan deserves to be a part of the WHA as an observer, it is now, at the time of COVID-19... But locking out Taiwan from any participation at the WHA diminishes this august assembly and the peoples of the world who can benefit even more from Taiwan’s expertise, professionalism and generosity,” it added.
Photo: AFP
On Wednesday, 102 members of the European Parliament and four German lawmakers issued an open letter to the health ministers of the EU’s 27 member states calling for Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) to be included in the virtual WHA, the ministry said.
The novel coronavirus “will dominate” the WHA, the open letter said.
“As the virus knows no borders, nationalities and ideologies, the world needs to share all available information and expertise that can be helpful to combat the [COVID-19] pandemic,” it said.
“That is why we, the undersigned members of the European and national parliaments, urge you to insist that the World Health Organization returns to the pragmatic protocol — practiced from 2009 to 2016 — of inviting Taiwan as an observer to this meeting format,” it added.
Citing the stance of the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand for a return to the format, the open letter urged the European health ministers to insist that Taiwan be invited as an observer, as the nation has “successfully managed to curb the spread of the virus, in spite of Taiwan’s geographic proximity to the virus origin.”
Separately on Wednesday, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said that Taiwan was excluded from the WHA due to Beijing’s influence.
Japan would do its utmost to back Taiwan’s bid to join the WHA, Motegi said when answering questions in a session of the Japanese House of Representatives.
The US, Canada and Australia have also expressed support for Taiwan’s WHA bid by various means.
“Australia supports Taiwan’s involvement in the World Health Organization’s work and Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly. There has never been a better time, nor a greater need, to work with all relevant partners to beat COVID-19 and respond to global health issues,” the Australian Office in Taipei wrote on Facebook.
While Taiwan’s bid might not succeed, many people are helping Taiwan and “the wind is blowing,” Chen said yesterday at the Central Epidemic Command Center’s daily news briefing.
Even if it is blocked from the assembly, the nation would still join certain meetings on the sidelines, as in previous years, Chen said, adding that he could not share details about any of the meetings.
Additional reporting by CNA
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
GROWING AMBITIONS: The scale and tempo of the operations show that the Strait has become the core theater for China to expand its security interests, the report said Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan have surged nearly 15-fold over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of China Affairs. Sorties in the Taiwan Strait were previously irregular, totaling 380 in 2020, but have since evolved into routine operations, the report showed. “This demonstrates that the Taiwan Strait has become both the starting point and testing ground for Beijing’s expansionist ambitions,” it said. Driven by military expansionism, China is systematically pursuing actions aimed at altering the regional “status quo,” the department said, adding that Taiwan represents the most critical link in China’s
‘REALLY PROUD’: Nvidia would not be possible without Taiwan, Huang said, adding that TSMC would be increasing its capacity by 100 percent Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday praised and lightly cajoled his major Taiwanese suppliers to produce more to help power strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI), capping a visit to the country of his birth, where he has been mobbed by adoring fans at every step. Speaking at an impromptu press conference in the rain outside a Taipei restaurant, where he had hosted suppliers for a “trillion-dollar dinner,” named after the market capitalization of those firms attending, Huang said this would be another good year for business. “TSMC needs to work very hard this year because I need a lot
RSS