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U.S. official voices support for Taiwan ahead of WHO summit

ROC Central News Agency

05/18/2022 01:47 PM

Washington, May 17 (CNA) A United States official on Tuesday reiterated U.S. support for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization's (WHO) annual summit as he said Taiwan would offer "considerable resources" conducive to discussions at the event which will begin this Sunday.

"We strongly advocate for the WHO to invite Taiwan to participate as an observer and lend its expertise to the solution-seeking discussions at the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA)," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

He was responding to a reporter's inquiry about what actions the U.S. government had taken to facilitate the inclusion of Taiwan in the WHA other than public statements in support of Taiwan's participation.

The WHA summit will convene at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from May 22 to 28, after two years of virtual meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WHO had invited Taiwan to take part as an observer in the WHA every year from 2009 to 2016 under the designation of "Chinese Taipei" during the then Kuomintang administration, following an absence of 38 years since the country, officially named the Republic of China, lost its seat in the United Nations.

Since the current ruling Democratic Progressive Party government took office in May 2016, the WHO has discontinued the practice at the behest of China.

Praising Taiwan as "a highly capable, engaged, responsible member of the global health community," Price said that Taiwan had much to share with the world in different fields, including in public health.

"We believe that its significant public health expertise, its technical and technological capabilities, its democratic governments - governance, its resilience in the face of COVID-19, and its robust economy offer considerable resources to inform the WHA's deliberations," he said.

There is no reasonable justification to exclude its participation, Price added.

According to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Tuesday, 13 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have submitted a proposal to the WHO to invite Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer.

The proposal will be discussed at the WHA's general committee on May 22, after which the committee will refer the case, together with its recommendation on that, to the plenary session for WHO member states to decide on when they confirm the agenda items, according to the WHO.

In addition to Taiwan's eight allies in the Caribbean, and Central and South America, who have jointly initiated the proposal to the WHO, individuals from countries in these regions which Taiwan does not have diplomatic relations with also spoke out for Taiwan's case to attend the WHA, according to MOFA.

More than 2,000 individuals and organizations from 20 countries in the region spoke out in favor of Taiwan's participation at the WHA, including parliamentarians in Brazil, and Mexico, and other people in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Costa Rica, as well as other countries, MOFA said.

In a related development, several groups of overseas Taiwanese in the San Francisco Bay Area, California staged a march in front of San Francisco City Hall on May 14 to campaign for Taiwan's participation in the WHA.

Holding banners carrying slogans such as "Let Taiwan Help" and "WHA for Taiwan," the participants argued for the inclusion of Taiwan in the WHA, saying Taiwan is capable of contributing to the international community and should enjoy the same rights to healthcare as other countries.

(By Stacy Hsu, Huang Ya-shih, Chou Shih-hui and Shih Hsiu-chuan)

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