TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan should seek out more international allies as China’s efforts to block it from attending the World Health Assembly (WHA) are growing stronger, Health and Welfare Minister Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said Wednesday (May 22).
Less than a week before the start of the annual World Health Organization (WHO) conference in Geneva, Taiwan has still not received an invitation. China has been preventing Taiwan’s participation even though the number of countries publicly supporting Taipei has grown over the years, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the lack of an invitation, Chiu is planning to lead a delegation to Switzerland and meet with WHA participants separately during the May 27-June 1 event. Since China is growing stronger, Taiwanese must show more solidarity and find more allies from other countries to resist China on the international stage, he said.
Before his swearing-in as minister on Monday (May 20), Chiu had traveled to Geneva during four previous editions of the WHA, per Radio Taiwan International (RTI). Many WHO member nations know that Taiwan possessed high-quality healthcare and is willing to share its knowhow with other countries, Chiu told reporters Wednesday.
Nevertheless, China was applying more resources to counter Taiwan’s campaign, with both hard and soft approaches, according to the minister. Taiwan is expecting at least 11 of its 12 official diplomatic allies to speak out on its behalf during the WHA.