HealthPoliticsWorld NewsTaiwan Protests Exclusion From World Health Assembly

Taiwan and dozens of friendly countries have urged the WHO to invite the island nation to the online meeting to discuss its containment of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), which is seen as a success story.

“It’s a loss for the WHO that the Taiwan model won’t be able to be shared at such an important meeting,’’ Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung told a news conference in Taipei.

Taiwan’s letter of protest will be immediately sent to the WHO, Chen said.

The WHO, under pressure from Beijing, does not recognise Taiwan.

Taiwan has had its own government since 1949.

Beijing considers the self-governing democracy part of its territory.

As the world has reported more than 4.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, Taiwan has recorded 440 cases with seven deaths.

Taiwan is ranked 156th in the list of confirmed cases per million people among 187 countries, Chen said.

A growing number of world leaders have spoken out publicly for Taiwan, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“The WHO Secretariat should listen carefully to reasonable appeals from the international community,’’ Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said.