CNS News
Date: May 14, 2019
By: Patrick Goodenough
(CNSNews.com) – When the World Health Organization holds its annual general
The WHO World Health Assembly meets in Geneva. (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe, File)
assembly in Geneva this month, Taiwan will not be present, as a major U.N. body once again falls in line with China’s effort to isolate a country which it regards as a rebellious province.
This will be the third consecutive year that Beijing has blocked an invitation for Taiwan to participate at an observer in the WHO’s World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva. Taiwan’s government says its exclusion makes the island’s 23 million people more vulnerable to pandemics.
Only a handful of countries have spoken out in support of Taiwan’s participation.
A WHO spokesman pointed out that Taiwan’s 16 diplomatic allies are dwarfed by the 178 member-states that endorse Beijing’s “one-China” policy, and so there is little chance of Taiwan being invited absent China’s consent. [FULL STORY]
