US offers support for Taiwan to participate in WHO Assembly

Reuters – It may be difficult for Taiwan to attend the World Health Organization’s annual assembly this year, and it hopes more countries will support its presence, the island’s foreign affairs officer said on Thursday, after the United States pushed for a invitation.

Taiwan is excluded from most international organizations due to objections from China, which considers the democratically governed island its own territory.

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Taiwan participated in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer from 2009 to 2016 under the administration of then-President Ma Ying-jeou, who signed historic trade and tourism agreements with China. But Beijing began blocking Taiwan’s participation in 2017, after President Tsai Ing-wen took office.

Speaking to reporters in parliament, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu noted a Wednesday statement from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in which he said the United States “strongly encourages” the WHO to reinstate Taiwan’s invitation.

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“When it comes to participating in this year’s AMS, there may be some difficulties, but we are continuing to work hard as before to get more countries to support us,” Wu said, without elaborating on these problems.

This year’s AMS begins on May 27, just one week after the inauguration of Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te. China considers him a dangerous separatist and has rejected his repeated requests for talks.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States commended the WHO for taking steps to more meaningfully involve Taiwan in its technical work over the past year and for improving lines of communication.

“However, Taiwan’s continued exclusion from this prominent global health forum undermines inclusive global public health cooperation and security,” he added. “Inviting Taiwan to observe the WHA is a critically important step towards affirming the WHO’s goal of ‘Health for All’.”

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China’s Foreign Ministry and the WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.