The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned Beijing for its continued suppression of the health rights of Taiwanese, as the government has yet to receive an invitation to join the World Health Assembly (WHA).
The 74th WHA is to take place virtually from May 24. Taiwan participated in the assembly as an observer from 2009 to 2016, but has since been denied entry.
The online registration deadline for member states ended on Monday and, as of yesterday, the nation had not received an invitation to participate at the assembly, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in Taipei.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The foreign ministry would work with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to strive for the nation’s participation until “the last moment,” Ou said.
Ou thanked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and like-minded nations for supporting Taiwan’s participation at the WHA, while calling on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to quickly respond to the calls for “justice” and Taiwan’s participation.
Beijing’s malicious suppression is the main barrier to the WHO including Taiwan in its technical discussions, she said.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) on Monday said that Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, including WHO-related events, should be handled in terms of the “one China” principle.
Washington’s claim that Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHA would imperil global health objectives is a political lie, Hua said, adding that “no one cares more about the health and welfare of Taiwanese than we do.”
The Chinese government, under its “one China” principle, has made “proper arrangements” for Taiwan to join discussions about global health affairs, she said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) criticized Hua’s claims as “shameless lies.”
“After what #Beijing has done to #Xinjiang, #Tibet & #HongKong, no sane person would believe it could take care of #Taiwan’s health needs or otherwise,” Wu wrote on Twitter yesterday.
“The #CCP regime can’t speak for Taiwan as it never ruled the country for a single day. Its claim, in fact, is pure authoritarian expansionism. The truth is we’re a democracy & only the freely elected government represents #Taiwan’s people. @WHO, do the right thing: Let us in,” he wrote.
“#Taiwan wants to do more to help combat COVID-19, so we call on the international community to #LetTaiwanHelp & support our participation in the #WHA,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote on Twitter yesterday.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft