Taiwan’s foreign minister said the island hoped other nations would support its attendance at the World Health Organization (WHO) annual meeting after the US pushed for an invitation.
Since China claims the democratically ruled island as its own, it has objected to Taiwan’s membership in most international organizations.
While President Ma Ying-jeou was in office, Taiwan struck historic trade and tourist agreements with China, and the island nation also participated in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as a visitor from 2009 to 2016. However, in 2017, with President Tsai Ing-wen’s ascension to power, Beijing started obstructing Taiwan’s participation due to her stance that Taiwan should not be considered part of One China.
May 27th marks the beginning of this year’s WHA, which coincides with the arrival of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te. China rejects Lai and views him as a separatist.
Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, referenced a remark by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in which he said that the US urged the WHO to renew Taiwan’s invitation. Taiwan claims that the COVID-19 pandemic response was impeded by its absence. Taiwan is only permitted to attend a few technical sessions hosted by the WHO.
According to Blinken’s statement, the US praised the WHO for its efforts in the last year to improve communication and more actively include Taiwan in its technical work. But he went on to say that inclusive health collaboration and security are undermined by Taiwan’s ongoing exclusion from the global health conference.
China strongly opposed Blinken’s remarks, which it saw as essentially endorsing and bolstering Taiwanese independence. China made a statement about the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan, saying that the party’s stance on the issue of Taiwan’s independence had rendered Taiwan’s participation in the WHA politically untenable.
China’s diplomatic and military efforts have intensified in recent years to get Taiwan to recognize Chinese sovereignty.
China’s assertions are unfounded, according to Taiwan’s administration, which maintains that the fate of the country’s 23 million residents is ultimately up to them and that China has no business representing Taiwan abroad.