The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked a group of European lawmakers, called the Formosa Club, for urging the WHO to invite Taiwan to the World Health Assembly (WHA) this month.
In a letter dated Wednesday, 1,084 incumbent and former European lawmakers urged WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to let Taiwan attend the WHO’s decisionmaking body as an observer.
Taiwan’s performance in managing the COVID-19 pandemic has been excellent and it has helped more than 80 countries in need, including providing 54 million masks and other medical equipment, the letter said.
Excluding Taiwan’s public health expertise from the WHO not only harms Taiwanese, but deprives the world of the opportunity to benefit from its knowledge and experience, it said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell were among the letter’s signatories in Brussels.
French Senate vice presidents Nathalie Delattre and Vincent Delahaye, and French National Assembly vice presidents Annie Genevard and David Habib were some of the lawmakers from European nations who cosigned the petition.
The ministry issued a statement saying Taiwan welcomes and thanks the European lawmakers for their support.
Taiwan will continue to work with countries that share its values and renew efforts to join the WHO, the ministry said, before calling on the WHO to acknowledge the mainstream world view that Taiwan should take part in the assembly.
The world body should work with Taiwan to better the health and welfare of the world, the ministry said.
The Formosa Club had called on the WHO to grant Taiwan observer status in a letter cosigned by about 600 European lawmakers in November last year.
Nearly every country in Europe — including Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia and Sweden — is included in the group.
Taiwan participated in the WHA as an observer from 2009 to 2016, but has since then been denied entry.
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