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Taiwan health minister vows to continue pushing for WHO inclusion

ROC Central News Agency

05/22/2023 05:23 PM

Geneva, May 21 (CNA) As the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) opened its 10-day forum in Switzerland on Sunday, Taiwan's Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) was vowing to continue pushing for the country's inclusion in the World Health Organization (WHO).

At a news conference held at the Geneva Press Club, Hsueh outlined how this could happen, explaining that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has the authority to invite Taiwan to participate in the WHA, instead of holding a vote of member states.

"This was the case in 2009, when the then-WHO secretary-general directly invited Taiwan to attend the WHA as an observer," Hsueh said when asked by CNA what he thought of Tedros' remarks earlier Sunday that Taiwan's inclusion in the WHA requires members' approval via a vote.

"Taiwan's membership at the WHO is a public health issue instead of a political one," he stressed, adding that "health is a basic human right that must leave no one behind."

Hsueh added that China wrongly interprets the United Nations General Assembly 2758 Resolution that stipulates the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of China, arguing that "the resolution does not address the issue of representing Taiwan."

The health minister said that Taiwan was not asking for the support of other countries for the sake of sympathy, but rather to lay the foundations for Taiwan and the rest of the world to continue cooperating.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told a legislative hearing in Taipei on Monday that "what Tedros said about Taiwan's participation in the WHA was not true."

Based on the WHO Constitution, Taiwan's participation in the WHA does not need approval of other member states, Wu said.

"It is the hope of all Taiwan's people to participate in the WHA," he added.

Taiwan was a WHA observer from 2009-2016, but was blocked from the body shortly after the independence leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took power, because of increasing pressure from Beijing.

Before the WHA event began, 12 of Taiwan's 13 diplomatic allies wrote to the WHA, urging the WHO to discuss Taiwan's participation as a WHA observer.

(By Flor Wang, Novia Huang and Tien Hsi-ju)

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