TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the World Health Assembly (WHA) draws near and Taiwan has yet to be invited to the event, Taiwanese organizations in Northern California rallied before San Francisco City Hall on Saturday (May 14) in support of Taiwan’s participation.
According to the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), the event was organized by Taiwanese communities in South Bay, San Francisco, and Sacramento. A total of 120 people from over 10 organizations attended the event, including Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco Director Scott Lai (賴銘琪), Culture Center of TECO in San Francisco (Milpitas) Director Chuang Ya-shu (莊雅淑), and Culture Center of TECO in San Francisco Director Su Shang-chieh (蘇上傑).
Taiwan has not received an invitation to attend the WHA for six consecutive years, which Lai called an injustice to not just Taiwanese but also the world. Lai added that 14 out of the world’s top 200 hospitals are in Taiwan, making the country the leader in Asia.
Chuang said health is a basic, universal human right and should not be subject to political influences. One major lesson the world has learned from COVID-19 is that no country can take on a pandemic on its own, and international cooperation is the only way to successfully combat infectious diseases.
(OCAC photo)