TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japanese lawmakers from a bipartisan diet caucus have passed a resolution urging the Japanese government to endorse Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA).
The WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), will be resumed virtually from Nov. 9 – 14 in light of the ongoing pandemic. In its previous virtual sessions in May, Taiwan was again not invited even though the country’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has been deemed by foreign media and governments as exemplary.
The Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council passed a resolution on Wednesday (Nov. 4). The resolution is intended to call on the government to take substantive action to support Taiwan to take part in the WHO as an observer and work with Taiwan’s health authorities, namely the Ministry of Health and Welfare, reported the Liberty Times.
Furuya Keiji, head of the bipartisan caucus, said Taiwan had been invited to observe at the WHA meetings for eight years before President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took power. It is unreasonable that Taiwan, which was once granted observer status, is now blocked from the annual assembly, noted Keiji, who added that such an arrangement clearly violates the WHO’s core mission.
Applauding Taiwan’s coronavirus response, the Japanese politician said Taiwan has every reason to take part in the WHA as an observer, sharing its expertise and successful experience in combatting the virus with the world.
The resolution also encouraged the Japanese authorities to work with their Taiwanese counterparts on health issues. The copies of the resolution were presented to both Japan’s foreign and health ministries.
The Japanese government has voiced its support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO in recent years. Ken Okaniwa, the Japanese envoy to the WHO Executive Board meeting, said in February that “we should not make a geographical vacuum by creating a situation where a specific region cannot join the WHO even as an observer.”
The former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also publicly backed Taiwan’s participation in the WHA.
Tsai Ming-yao (蔡明耀), deputy Taiwanese representative to Japan, expressed appreciation for the support from the Japanese parliament. He noted that the resolution indicated the closeness of the relationship between Taiwan and Japan and that it underlined the importance of including Taiwan in the UN’s health agency.
