The US Department of State on Tuesday voiced its strong support for Taiwan’s participation in the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting as an observer, after the nation failed to receive an invitation to attend this year.
“The United States recognizes Taiwan’s continued leadership on global health issues and continues to strongly support Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly,” Bureau for East Asian and Pacific Affairs spokesperson Grace Choi said.
Choi was answering questions about Taiwan’s setback in seeking to attend this year’s meeting, which is to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 22 to 31.
Taiwan did not receive an invitation from the WHO by the Monday deadline for online registration because of Chinese obstruction.
The WHA is the WHO’s decisionmaking body.
Even though it has not been invited, Taipei said it plans to send a delegation to Geneva for the duration of the 10-day session.
In response to media queries over whether the US would meet the Taiwanese delegation on the sidelines of the meeting, and if there had been cooperation or communication between Taipei and Washington by which the two nations could share information or data on global health, Choi declined to comment.
However, the US has welcomed Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the past eight WHA meetings, she said.
Reiterating Washington’s stance, Choi said the US government encourages authorities in Taipei and Beijing to engage in constructive dialogue on the basis of dignity and respect.
“We continue to urge patience, flexibility and creativity on both sides,” she said.
In Geneva, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the matter of Taiwan’s participation is not yet resolved.
“Officially the deadline has passed, but yet it is my understanding that discussions are still ongoing and we are also on our side waiting for any developments,” he said.
Lindmeier’s remarks leave some room for Taiwan to attend the meeting, according to an Agence-France Presse report.
The British parliament’s British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group co-chair Lord Steel of Aikwood asked his government to support Taiwan’s bid to attend the WHA meeting.
In a letter to British Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt, Lord Steel asked the British government to “show its continued support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the WHA, by writing to Dr Margaret Chan [陳馮富珍], Director-General of the WHO, urging the WHO Secretariat against serving the interest of any particular country and to issue an invitation to Taiwan in a timely manner.”
“The WHO needs Taiwan to build a robust global health system and Taiwan needs WHO as well,” he said.
Taiwan’s constructive participation in the WHO over the past eight years has enabled the nation to share experiences with other countries, to report and receive disease prevention information promptly, and to better contribute to health worldwide, he said.
Lord Steel last month led a delegation of British parliamentarians to Taiwan, meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and health officials to promote bilateral ties.
Taiwan attended WHA meetings as an observer from 2009 to last year, under the name “Chinese Taipei.”
The exclusion of Taiwan from this year’s meeting is widely seen as the latest move by China to clamp down on Taiwan’s international participation, a strategy that has become more aggressive since Tsai took power in May last year.
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS