European countries, allies express support for Taiwan as WHA opens

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) Taiwan's diplomatic allies and a number of European countries spoke up in support of its inclusion in the World Health Assembly (WHA) on its opening day Monday.

Taiwan is not participating in the WHA, the decision-making body for the World Health Organization (WHO), for an eighth straight year. The WHO, as a United Nations specialized agency, does not recognize Taiwan as a member, and it was not separately invited to take part.

Greg Lee (李冠德), deputy head of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Department of International Organizations, said at a MOFA briefing Tuesday that Taiwan's 11 diplomatic allies that are official members of the WHO jointly submitted a proposal to the WHO Secretariat to invite Taiwan to participate in the WHA.

The Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan, has 12 diplomatic allies worldwide but its only ally in Europe, the Vatican, is not a member to the WHO but a permanent observer.

Aside from the support of its allies, according to Lee, officials from Australia, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany all spoke up in support of Taiwan on the first day of the annual meeting, which runs until June 1.

Mark Butler, Australian health and aged care minister, said Canberra recognizes "the importance of working with all partners, including Taiwan. We're committed to equity and inclusion."

"Health is a human right shared by all regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, economic status or ability. Equity must be the cornerstone of our health systems."

French Health Minister Frederic Valletoux, German Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach and British Health Minister Nick Markham shared similar comments in their respective addresses Monday.

Valletoux reiterated Paris' support of Taiwan's participation in the WHA, while Lauterbach stressed the importance of including expertise from around the world in the face of global challenges.

"The WHO organization needs less bureaucracy, more flexibility, and needs to be more, even more efficient. I think with this investment round, we can achieve all of these goals. We need to stand together, using everyone's expertise, including Taiwan's, to master the challenges ahead of us," Lauterbach said.

Markham said the U.K. believes Taiwan "should once again become an observer to this assembly, and to be granted meaningful access to all relevant technical meetings, as was the case until 2016."

That year was the last time to date that Taiwan, under the moniker "Chinese Taipei," was invited to join the WHA as an observer.

Meanwhile, officials from Belgium and the Netherlands also called for inclusion in the WHA, showing support for Taiwan even though they did not mention Taiwan by name, Lee said.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, the permanent representative of Belgium to the U.N. Office at Geneva, said the WHA should play a role in collaborating all international actors from around the world for an effective system, "leaving nobody and no region of the world behind."

Dutch Medical Care Minister Pia Dijkstra said her country supports the WHO to "promote, provide and protect health for all, leaving no one behind."

"We support the meaningful participation of all who contribute valuable expertise and knowledge to world health," she said.

The ROC was expelled from the WHO in 1972 after losing its U.N. seat to the People's Republic of China due to the issue of "China's representation."

Taiwan was allowed to attend the WHA as an observer under the designation "Chinese Taipei" from 2009 to 2016, when cross-Taiwan Strait relations were warmer under the then Kuomintang government.

Since the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took power in 2016, however, Taiwan has been blocked from attending every WHA assembly since 2017.