For the second year in a row, Taiwan has not been invited to participate as an observer at the World Health Assembly taking place this week. Political dissent with China borne out of a change of government in Taiwan now refusing to recognise the “One China” principle resulted in Taiwan being left out of the World Health Organization. At the opening of the Assembly, several countries supported Taiwan, including the United States.

Taiwanese officials nonetheless made the trip to Geneva and intend to reach out to countries, claiming the decision to leave them out creates a health gap which could cost lives. On 21 May, Taiwan organised a press briefing in Geneva, a stone’s throw away from the United Nations building hosting the 71th World Health Assembly, from 21-26 May.

During the briefing, Taiwan Minister of Health and Welfare Shih-Chung Chen pleaded for the support of all nations to rally for Taiwan’s formal participation in the WHA. He said excluding Taiwan and its people from the WHA for political reasons violates the fundamental principle of the WHO, and creates a potentially fatal breach in the global health protection system, putting at risk “perhaps hundreds of millions of global citizens who don’t care about politics or diplomatic squabbles.” They do not deserve to be “pawns in a game” with such serious stakes, he said.

“As a mid-sized democratic country with a vibrant and advanced economy, many of our health care experiences provide valuable lessons for the world,” he said in his statement.

While Taiwan thrives socially and economically, he explained, “we are politically isolated and cut off from many basic resources and critical aid from international organisations.”

Declining to specify who was to blame between the WHO and China, the minister said the debate should not remain political and the focus should be on health issues. Taiwan is not here to start any dispute with a government, he said. It is just “absurd” to leave 23 million of Taiwanese outside of the global health system, he added.

China Opposes Taiwan Participation, Says Taiwan Part of China

At the opening of the Assembly yesterday afternoon, following a request by some countries favourable to the inclusion of Taiwan to include an additional agenda item, four countries were allowed to speak: two in favour of Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHA, and two against.

China and Pakistan opposed the inclusion of Taiwan. China strongly reaffirmed that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory, under the principle of “One China.” The proposal to include Taiwan as a separate country is thus illegal, and against the United Nations charter, the Chinese delegate said. For eight years, a special arrangement allowed Taiwan to participate as an observer, but after a change of government in Taiwan, such agreement was not possible, he said.  He said Taiwan is seeking to manipulate a “handful of countries,” and trying to politicise the WHA. Not including Taiwan in the WHA has nothing to do with the health of Taiwanese people, he said.

Pakistan concurred, and said they believe in the one China principle. Taiwan has no right to claim membership to the WHO, the delegate said, characterising Taiwan’s efforts as self-serving.

The Marshall Islands, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines took the opposite view. The Marshall Islands delegate said no one is safe until everyone is safe and the lack of information for and from Taiwan could create serious risks not only for Taiwan but for the world at large.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines said the practice of inviting Taiwan as an observer was “abruptly discontinued” last year for political reasons, he said, adding that China is inadequately representing Taiwan. The invitation to the WHA is not incompatible with the One China principle he said.

Applause followed each statement, indicating that the WHO delegations are probably divided on the issue.

The Marshall Islands and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are part of a group of countries calling for a supplementary agenda item “Inviting Taiwan to participate in the World Health Assembly as an observer.” Other countries also formally calling for this item were Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Haiti, Kiribati, Nauru, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland, and Tuvalu.

In his general statement delivered to the plenary today, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar expressed disappointment over the decision not to grant observer status to Taiwan. “It is difficult to reconcile our shared concern over cross-border infectious diseases with excluding representatives of the 23 million people of Taiwan from this gathering,” he said.

Taiwan Proponents Asked to Remove Slogan T-Shirt At WHO Walk

As part of the WHO 70th anniversary celebration, WHO staged a health promotion event on 20 May, called Walk the Talk: the Health for All Challenge.

The event was supported by the city and canton of Geneva, the permanent mission of Switzerland to the United Nations, and the United Nations.

A group of Taiwan supporters had joined the march with green t-shirts saying “Health for all with Taiwan” – Taiwan Alliance for WHO.

According to supporters, the police asked them to remove their t-shirts on the motive that they bore a political message. One of the supporters refused to cooperate and was brought briefly to the police station.

The WHO declined to comment, as the incident happened on public grounds. A spokesperson of the Geneva police told Intellectual Property Watch that the participants to the march were advised that they should not take it as an opportunity to bring political messages, and the security service of the organisers had to enforce this neutrality principle on three distinct groups of participants, including the group supporting Taiwan.

The local police were called when those participants refused to follow the rules of the march and in the case of Taiwan, to remove or turn their t-shirt inside out.

Separately, on 21 March, at the start of the WHA, Taiwan supporters gathered outside the UN building, to protest the exclusion of Taiwan, without reported incident.

Image Credits: Catherine Saez.