U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken on Friday (May 7) called on the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) to allow Taiwan to be “immediately invited” to participate as an observer in the 74th World Health Assembly (WHA), which will be held in two weeks.
In his statement, “Restoring Taiwan to its rightful place in the World Health Assembly,” Blinken said that starting May 24, the world will come together virtually for the WHO Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, which will set issues for strengthening international cooperation to end the Newcastle pneumonia epidemic and promote global health and global health security. These issues will affect everyone around the world.
“However, unless appropriate action is taken by the leadership of this organization, this assembly will once again exclude Taiwan’s vital participation.”
Blinken said, “There is no valid reason for the continued exclusion of Taiwan from this forum, and the United States calls on the Director-General of the World Health Organization to invite Taiwan to participate in the WHO Assembly as an observer – just as they have done in past years before the People’s Republic of China voiced their opposition.”
He added, “Global health and global health security challenges do not heed borders or political disputes. Taiwan offers valuable contributions and the lessons it has learned from tackling these topics, and the WHO leadership and all responsible countries should recognize that excluding the interests of 24 million people from the WHO Assembly only jeopardizes, rather than advances, our shared global health goals.”
“Taiwan is a reliable partner, a thriving democracy, and a force for good around the world, and its continued exclusion from the WHO Assembly is extremely detrimental to our collective international efforts to prevent and control outbreaks and protect against future health crises. We urge Taiwan to receive an immediate invitation to participate in the WHO Conference,” Blinken said.
Following Blinken’s statement, Voice of America asked Taiwan’s representative to the U.S., Mei-Chin Hsiao, if she was optimistic that Taiwan would be invited to the WHO this year. Hsiao said, “We are still working on it, and we thank the United States for its full support and the G7 foreign ministers’ statement for echoing it. I hope that more countries with similar philosophies will work with the United States to support Taiwan’s participation.”
Taiwan’s representative office in the U.S. also later republished Lincoln’s statement, expressing gratitude for the U.S. support. “Thank you Secretary Blinken for calling on the Director-General of the WHO to invite Taiwan to the WHO Conference and for highlighting Taiwan as a force for good in the world. The people of Taiwan take this support to heart.”
As we get closer to the WHO meeting on May 24, the international outpouring of support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO meeting is growing louder and louder.
Only 2 days ago, in a joint communiqué issued after the London Foreign Ministers’ meeting, the G7 said, “We support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the WHO forum and the World Health Assembly. The international community should be able to benefit from the experience of all partners, including Taiwan’s successful contribution to the response to the New Crown Pneumonia pandemic.”
In addition, in an unprecedented move, the French Senate voted 304-0 the day before (May 6) to adopt a resolution “Supporting Taiwan’s Participation in International Organizations,” encouraging the French government to continue to take concrete action to support Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), INTERPOL, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The resolution was proposed by the French Senate’s “France-Taiwan Friendship Group,” whose chairman, Alain Richard, said that Taiwan’s request for participation in the World Health Organization should be supported in light of its outstanding performance in the New Guinea epidemic. In addition, Taiwan’s participation in other international organizations such as Interpol, ICAO and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change should also be supported.
The French government supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, French Foreign Ministry State Councillor Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said after the Senate voted to adopt the resolution.
The Taiwanese government welcomed and thanked the French Senate for expressing for the first time its support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations by adopting a resolution, and the French government for reaffirming its position in support of Taiwan’s participation in the international community.
In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Taiwan and France have worked closely together in recent years in the fields of trade and commerce, science and technology, energy and innovation, building a close and mutually trusting partnership between the two sides, and that Taiwan will continue to deepen its bilateral partnership and work to create richer and more favorable conditions for Taiwan’s participation in the multilateral system, “constantly and concretely putting into practice the principle that ‘Taiwan can help. The world should also let Taiwan help’ as a common good goal.”
Although Taiwan’s performance in preventing and controlling the epidemic has been praised and recognized by the international community, the Chinese government still insists that Taiwan is not a sovereign state and that participation in international organizations can only be arranged through cross-Strait consultations in the Taiwan Strait on the basis of the one-China principle.
Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun reiterated on Monday Beijing’s position against inviting Taiwan to the WHO. He said, “Our clear and firm position is that the United Nations is an organization composed of sovereign states and Taiwan is not eligible to participate in these organizations.”
The Chinese Embassy in France also issued a statement after the French Senate passed a resolution supporting Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, saying that the French Senate’s move “clearly violates the one-China principle and blatantly interferes in China’s internal affairs, and China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition.”
The statement reiterated that membership in other UN bodies such as ICAO is restricted to sovereign states and that “Taiwan, as a province of China, is not eligible to join at all” and that Taiwan’s participation in activities related to these organizations must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle.
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