Fri, Aug 08, 2025 page3

• Guatemala reiterates Taiwan WHO observer support

  FLOURISHING: Taiwan’s economic strength, shared values with allies, and cooperation in education and other fields should bolster diplomatic relations, an envoy to the UN said

  • By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter
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  Guatemala, Haiti and the Marshall Islands would continue to support Taiwan to become an observer in the WHO by foregrounding its edge in healthcare, Guatemalan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Jose Francisco Cali Tzay said at a meeting with Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

  Han met with delegates of Taiwan’s allied countries at the UN alongside Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Chien-chi (林倩綺), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) and Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Liu Shu-pin (劉書彬).

  Attendees included Tzay, Haitian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Ann-Kathryne Lassegue and Marshall Islands Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva Samuel Lanwi Jr.

  

  Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu, sixth right, shakes hands with Guatemalan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Jose Francisco Cali Tzay at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

  Han thanked Tzay and other ambassadors to the UN for repeatedly voicing their support for Taiwan to participate in international organizations, although the process must be lonely.

  “The Republic of China [Taiwan] should not continue to be an international orphan and should be able to take part in the UN and its specialized agencies,” he said.

  Taiwan looks as small as an egg compared with its neighbor China on the map, but just as an egg, it is lively and vigorous inside, Han said.

  “Taiwan’s land area makes up about 0.03 percent of the global land and its 23 million people account for 0.3 percent of the global population,” he said.

  “However, Taiwan contributes to 3 percent of industrial goods globally,” Han said, adding that he hopes allies would continue to help promote Taiwan’s international participation.

  Tzay said that Guatemala, Haiti and the Marshall Islands have maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan for many years.

  “[We] have shared the universal values, such as democracy, freedom and respect to human rights,” he said. “Taiwan and our countries continue to innovate in deepening cooperation in many areas, including public care, agriculture and women’s empowerment.”

  “Our relationship has flourished and of course our countries would continue supporting your effort to be recognized as an observer in the WHO,” he said.

  With Taiwan’s economic strength and its shared values with allies, diplomatic relations are expected to be bolstered through cooperation in education and other fields, Tzay added.

  The delegation is visiting primarily to gain firsthand information about Taiwan, with the goal of using the information to enhance their arguments for Taiwan’s participation in the UN and its specialized agencies, he said.

  Tzay praised Taiwan for its efficiency in healthcare, particularly because all health checks can be completed on the same floor of a building in only two hours.

  “That reflected not only the capacity, but also the efficiency in [the] healthcare services of Taiwan,” he said.
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