Beijing might be able to stop the WHO from inviting Taiwan to the World Health Assembly (WHA), but it cannot stop Taiwan from contributing to global healthcare, and China is leaving global public health cooperation exposed to high political risks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
With Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in Geneva, Switzerland, to attend Taiwan-related events that coincide with the WHA, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) on Monday said “the Taiwan authorities’ practice of sending representatives to various meetings to seek attention is nothing but political theatrics and doomed to fail.”
“There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” Guo said, adding that when handling issues related to the “Taiwan region,” the WHO and other international organizations must follow the “one China principle,” which is also a “fundamental principle as demonstrated by UN Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1.”
Photo: Screen grab from a Ministry of Foreign Affairs livestream
In Taipei yesterday, MOFA spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said “the Chinese government only needs to take good care of its own people.”
“The Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan is a sovereign independent nation, which is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China [PRC],” Hsiao added.
Taiwan’s push to participate in the WHO and other international organizations is based on Taiwan’s legitimate and lawful sovereign right, he said, adding that China has no say and should not stand in the way.
“Only the directly elected government of Taiwan can represent Taiwanese in international society and at multilateral settings,” Hsiao said, adding that neither UN Resolution 2758 nor the WHA Resolution 25.1 mention Taiwan, and they do not authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan in the UN system, nor do they claim that Taiwan is part of the PRC, so they cannot be used to exclude Taiwan.
“The MOFA strongly condemns and protests China’s use of untruthful statements to mislead the international community while continuing to politicize Taiwan’s participation, exposing global public health cooperation to high political risks,” he said.
China’s long-term deliberate distortion of UN Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 — using them as a legal basis for its “one China principle,” linking it to Taiwan’s sovereign status, and suppressing Taiwan’s international participation and space — has completely departed from the original text of the two resolutions and principles of international law, Hsiao said.
It is regrettable that the WHO, as a professional global public health organization whose core mission is to promote the health and well-being of all humanity, has succumbed to political preconditions set by China, refusing to invite Taiwan to the WHA, he said.
China has long and improperly interfered in WHO affairs regarding Taiwan’s equal participation in technical meetings and mechanisms, and it spreads false claims that Taiwan has been granted “adequate arrangements for technical participation,” showing a flagrant disregard for the importance of global health information sharing and pandemic prevention cooperation, he said.
“Taiwan’s bid for WHA participation is fundamentally about the health rights of all humanity and the integrity of the global public health system,” Hsiao said, adding that Taiwan has extensive expertise and rich experience in infectious disease control, universal health coverage, digital healthcare and medical aid.
Through international medical cooperation and public health capacity building, Taiwan has achieved remarkable results in helping allies and friendly nations enhance their healthcare resilience, he said.
“China might be able to stop the WHO from sending Taiwan an invitation, but it cannot block Taiwan’s contributions to global healthcare, nor can it suppress the international community’s high regard for Taiwan’s healthcare capabilities and democratic values,” he added.
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