The 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting is scheduled to take place from May 22 to 28, a meeting at which Taiwan’s return as an observer is becoming increasingly possible.
US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brain McKeon has clearly articulated to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the US supports Taiwan’s attendance at the meeting with observer status, along with a continued investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV-2.
This shows that Washington continues to pursue Taiwan’s interests, and that there remains a chance for Taiwan to attend the WHA meeting, despite not having yet received an invitation.
McKeon is of the same rank as US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. Unlike Sherman, who must constantly shuttle between countries, McKeon is responsible for the State Department’s management and resources.
It falls to McKeon to “remind” Tedros of the contingencies attached to US funding of the WHO. This fact is important especially now, given that attendees at the upcoming WHA meeting are to vote to determine whether Tedros should receive a second five-year term.
The intervention of US President Joe Biden’s administration at this crucial time is intended to send a clear message to Tedros about its support for Taiwan’s attendance.
Whether Taiwan can attend with observer nation status, as it has before, depends on whether Tedros issues an invitation. Should Tedros reject the US’ “suggestion,” the administration could ask US allies to not support his reappointment. Another option would be for the US to withhold its membership fees.
Former US president Donald Trump two years ago froze US funding of the WHO. He said that the organization under Tedros had been too willing to take its cues from Beijing and trust its COVID-19 data, a trust that led to rapid spread of the virus.
The state department said that funding would not resume until Tedros stepped down, and it called for an investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2.
Trump reasoned that the US contributed 10 times as much as China to the organization, between US$400 million to US$500 million, or about 14 percent of the WHO’s budget, funding that was of crucial importance to the WHO.
When appeals for reform of the institution were not met with a substantial response, the Trump administration announced in July 2020 that it would be withdrawing from the WHO, as of a year later, and proposed the creation of a new international health organization to replace the WHO.
Biden reversed the decision on his first day in office and WHO funding resumed. However, his administration continues to pressure the health body to reform and to investigate the origins of the virus.
There was an evident change in Tedros’ China-friendly stance. In October last year, the WHO said it would form a task force to open a second round of investigations on the virus’ origin, and Tedros followed the US stance that it might have leaked from a Wuhan laboratory, asking China to make its data available to the investigation.
The growing distance between Tedros and China was suggested when Beijing did not indicate support for Tedros’ reappointment.
Whether Tedros continues to be Beijing’s pawn or sides with the West could determine whether Taiwan attends next month’s WHA meeting.
Chen Yung-chang is a company manager.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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