TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Representative to South Korea Liang Kuang-chung (梁光中) urged the world to back the nation's participation in this year's World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer and in all World Health Organization (WHO) meetings in a recent interview with South Korea’s News1.
The world should give Taiwan a chance to demonstrate its capabilities, Liang said, according to a Taipei Mission in Korea press release. He also urged the WHO to invite Taiwan to sign the International Health Regulations.
Liang brought up China’s unilateral alteration of its M503 flight route. He urged China to negotiate with Taiwan under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulations. He also mentioned Taiwan's hope to participate in INTERPOL to help combat transnational crime.
Liang said Taiwan and South Korea share universal values such as freedom, democracy, and human rights, and have long faced threats from authoritarian countries. Due to their geographical proximity, the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait are closely related, making them mutually dependent on each other's fate, the representative said.
Liang expressed gratitude on behalf of the Taiwanese government to the South Korean government for its recent donation of US$500,000 (NT$16.13 million) to assist in post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in Hualien.
This year's WHA begins May 27. Taiwan has garnered increasing support for its international participation from democratic partners, including the U.S., Japan, Australia, and European nations. Last year, 13 non-diplomatic allies vouched for Taiwan at the WHA.
This year, Taiwan will send a legislative delegation led by Deputy Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to participate in sideline meetings and advocate for participation in the World Health Organization.
Taiwan was able to participate in the global health decision-making body from 2009 to 2016 as an observer under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) but was blocked after Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office due to China's refusal to continue dialogue with the Democratic Progressive Party.
