Taiwan excluded from WHO's annual gathering.
Taiwan won't be attending the World Health Organization's (WHO) annual meeting this year after China objected. The Taiwanese government didn't get a WHO invitation for the World Health Assembly (WHA).
China's representative at the UN in Geneva, Chen Xu, stated there's no political basis for Taiwan's involvement. He accused Taiwanese reps of turning the health issue into a political matter. Before making the decision, Taiwan's Health Minister, Chiu Tai Yuan, expressed concerns about how his country's absence would hinder COVID-19 efforts.
The WHA is WHO's highest decision-making body. Taiwan had formerly participated as an observer between 2009-2016. However, China has been blocking this since 2017. The reason lies in the disagreement over Taiwan's political status - China considers it a rogue province.
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Despite Taiwan's previous participation as an observer at the WHO's World Health Assembly (WHA) from 2009-2016, China's objection during the WHO's annual meeting this year led to Taiwan's exclusion. This decision followed China's assertion that there's no political basis for Taiwan's involvement, with China's UN representative in Geneva, Chen Xu, accusing Taiwanese reps of politicizing the health issue.
Source: www.ntv.de
