Taiwan asks for WHA inclusion under name of Taiwan or ROC

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) A Taiwanese delegation in Geneva called for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) under the name of Taiwan or the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's official name) just before the opening of the annual meeting on Monday.

The delegation, led by Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源), held a press conference at the Geneva Press Club at 8 a.m. Monday (local time), one hour before the start of the WHA's annual meeting, which will run through June 1 in Geneva.

The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating body on public health.

Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, and was not able to participate as an observer this year after not being invited for an eighth straight year because of China's objections.

Urging the WHO to act in line with this year's WHA theme, "All for Health, Health for All," Chiu said he represented the 23 million people in Taiwan in calling for the WHA to include Taiwan in its proceedings as an observer.

"Due to political considerations, the WHO has continued to exclude Taiwan. This undermines the WHO's efforts to create a more comprehensive global health architecture," Chiu said. "This situation greatly hinders pandemic prevention efforts."

When asked under what name Taiwan wanted to be referred to, Chiu said that using either "Taiwan" or the "Republic of China" was necessary "to insist on" when the country is set to join WHA or WHO-related activities.

"Taiwan is Taiwan. Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China," he said.

The ROC left the WHO in 1972 following a decision by the United Nations to expel the ROC and recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the only "legitimate representative of China."

Since then, Taiwan has been unable to attend the WHA due to pressure from Beijing, except from 2009 to 2016 as an observer under the name of "Chinese Taipei" when relations with China were warmer under the then-Kuomintang (KMT) government.

The 2016 appearance came just days after former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took office.

Chiu extended his appreciation to Taiwan's diplomatic allies and like-minded countries, including the United States, as well as international organizations, such as the World Medical Association, for their backing.

Alongside Chiu, a group of lawmakers from the three parties represented in the Legislature also attended the Geneva press conference.

The lawmakers in Geneva are Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) of the main opposition KMT and legislators Wang Cheng-hsu (王正旭) of the ruling DPP, Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽) of the KMT, and Lin Yi-chun (林憶君) of the Taiwan People's Party.