Taiwan’s chances of participating in WHA remain slim despite international support

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/11
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Monday (May 11) pointed out that a secret memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between China and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2005 has directly contributed to Taiwan being excluded from the imminent World Health Assembly (WHA) slated for next week.

Despite support from members of the global community, Taiwan's chances of participating in the 2020 WHA remains slim, Wu said during a Q&A session at the Legislative Yuan Monday morning. He stressed that the WHO has been under the influence of the MOU since 2005 and that the Taiwanese government did not have knowledge of the existence of the secret document until later.

Wu said the government has yet to receive an invitation to this year's WHA meeting and that it would take a lot more pressure from the international community for the WHO to change its approach toward the island nation. He added that the international health body has reiterated its opposition to Taiwan's participation in recent statements, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is less than optimistic about the situation, reported Yahoo News.

However, Wu noted that "the global atmosphere in 2020 has been increasingly in favor of Taiwan," which has put great pressure on the WHO and China. He made assurances that MOFA will not stop trying to gain Taiwan entry into the international health body.
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