Amid a global health threat, international organizations shouldn’t be playing Beijing’s political games.

Foreign Policy
Date: February 28, 2020
By: Stanley Kao

A man points to a webpage promoting prevention of the deadly coronavirus from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Facebook account in Taipei on Feb. 14. SAM YEH/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The novel coronavirus outbreak has resulted in more than 80,000 confirmed cases and killed nearly 3,000 people worldwide. Its spread has already surpassed the total number of casualties during the SARS crisis in 2002-2003. The World Health Organization (WHO) belatedly declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 30.

Some 60,000 flights carry 10 million passengers between Taiwan and China every year. Taiwan has an acute interest in protecting its own and the world’s welfare from this latest health threat. After the painful but valuable experience of dealing with SARS in 2003, Taiwan’s government is making maximum and keenly effective efforts to prevent further outbreaks on the island.

However, Taiwan was excluded from the WHO emergency meetings on the new coronavirus crisis. In fact, Taiwan has been denied permission to attend the annual World Health Assembly and WHO technical and experts’ meetings since 2016 due to Beijing’s aggressive attempts at limiting Taiwan’s international participation.    [FULL  STORY]