New Europe
Date: May 4, 2020
By: Elena Pavlovska
A man (L) points to a sign saying in Chinese and English that passenger must wear face mask or be fined 15,000 Taiwan Dollars (US$500) at a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station in Taipei, Taiwan, 05 April 2020. To prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Taiwan’s Transport Ministry has ordered citizens to wear face masks on train, MRT and bus starting in April., and people whose body temperature is higher than 37.5 degrees Celsius cannot ride public transportation.
EPA-EFE/DAVID CHANG
The country has been largely excluded from involvement with the WHO due to pressure from China, which refuses to acknowledge the island’s sovereignty.
Last week, the WHO said the assembly will take place virtually from May 18. Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the government had “not yet received an invitation from WHO” and was “still awaiting” it so a delegation could attend as an observer and share the island’s experience in fighting the coronavirus.
Taiwan attended the World Health Assembly as an observer from 2009-2016 when Taipei-Beijing relations warmed, but China blocked further participation after the election of Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen. Relations between Taiwan and China have been on the decline since 2016 when Tsai, who has taken a more pro-Taiwan stance than her main competitor, was first elected president.
[FULL STORY]
