The May 4 issue of the American Foreign Service Scholar published an article by Chen Shih-chung, Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare and commander of the Central Epidemic Command Center. In the article, Chen praised Taiwan’s success in the fight against New Coronavirus pneumonia and called on the WHO to admit Taiwan to the WHO Conference.
The title of the article by Chen Shih-chung is: “Whether it is the fight against NCCV pneumonia or the next pandemic, Taiwan can help”. In the article, Chen points out that Taiwan’s response to the coronavirus outbreak is one of the world’s most successful cases and emphasizes that Taiwan cannot remain outside the global health network. The Diplomatic Scholar is a political publication distributed online.
The 74th World Health Assembly is being held by video from May 24 to June 1 in Switzerland, and Taiwan has not received an invitation so far.
In the article, Chen Shih-chung said that early and effective public health control measures mitigated the economic impact of the epidemic in Taiwan and that Taiwan’s GDP grew by about 3.11 percent in 2020, compared to the global economy, which is in recession.
Chen also mentions that Taiwan took early reports of coronavirus disease seriously due to its experience with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. Despite such geographical proximity to China, Taiwan currently has only 1,145 confirmed cases and 12 deaths. This has allowed the public to continue to live and work normally.
Chen also praised the effectiveness of the “Taiwan model. He added that Taiwan’s healthcare system, rigorous testing, open and transparent information, and cooperation between the public and private sectors have helped delay the onset of the disease.
As a member of the global village, Taiwan will do its best to cooperate with the WHO and global health leaders, Chen said. He stressed that Taiwan plays an “indispensable role” in the global surveillance and early warning system to detect the threat of emerging infectious diseases.
Chen urged the WHO and related agencies to recognize Taiwan’s contributions to the world and to support Taiwan’s participation in WHO meetings and related activities. He said that “no one should be left behind” in the UN’s sustainable development goals.
Since Tsai’s election as Taiwan’s president in 2016, Beijing has continued to suppress Taiwan’s international space, including pressuring the WHO to prevent Taiwan from participating in the World Health Assembly, because she does not accept the “one-China” principle advocated by the so-called “1992 Consensus. China argues that Taiwan is a province to be reunified and is not entitled to the rights of a sovereign state.
Instead, Taiwan was invited to participate in the WHO as an observer for eight consecutive years between 2009 and 2016.
Over the years, Taiwan has continued to initiate actions to regain observer status at the WHO and the World Health Assembly.
Taiwan’s efforts have received growing support from the international community. The Inter-Parliamentary Policy Alliance on China (IPAC), a multinational group of more than 200 parliamentarians, released a video on April 27 supporting Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and launched the popular hashtag #LetTaiwanHelp. Members of the coalition accused Beijing of excluding Taiwan from the international organization, which would only “create a dangerous gap” for the world.
Before last year’s WHO conference, the United States and many other countries and representatives from Europe and the United States sent a joint letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) calling for Taiwan to be included in the upcoming annual conference. More than 1,700 dignitaries from at least 74 countries signed a letter in support of Taiwan’s participation in the WHO.
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