A first: Taiwan's foreign minister in Geneva during WHA

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is in Geneva to attend Taiwan-organized events coinciding with the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA), making him Taiwan's first top diplomat to visit the Swiss city during the annual gathering.

In a Facebook post Sunday, Lin said he had arrived in Geneva and had already attended two events there with Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良).

Taiwan was not invited to the WHA for a 10th consecutive year, but it is again staging events in Geneva, where the WHO is headquartered and the WHA is held, to coincide with the assembly.

No Taiwanese foreign minister had previously made a public visit to attend Taiwan's WHA action team events, which are jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Ministry of Health and Welfare and normally attended by the country's health minister.

Though Lin had said on May 11 he would try to make the trip, it was thought he would face obstacles in arranging the visit.

Taiwan and Switzerland do not maintain official diplomatic ties, making it difficult for Taiwan's top diplomat to visit Geneva in an official capacity.

China has also aggressively moved to block top Taiwanese officials from traveling overseas, though it is unclear if it took any steps to prevent Lin's trip.

Neither Lin nor MOFA had explained as of Sunday afternoon how Lin was able to travel to Geneva.

Lin said the two events he and Shih attended on Saturday were an annual symposium organized by the European Federation of Taiwan Health Alliance (EFTHA), an NGO that connects overseas Taiwanese healthcare workers in Europe, and a dinner banquet hosted by the health ministers and permanent representatives of allied nations in Geneva.

"Although Taiwan was not invited to participate in the WHA again this year, we have never been absent from the critical moments whenever the global public health system needs Taiwan," Lin wrote.

According to Taiwan's representative office in Geneva, Lin and Shih also held a press event on Sunday to release a government-produced promotional video calling for Taiwan's inclusion in the WHA.

The WHA is the annual decision-making meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO). Taiwan has not attended the assembly since 2016, when it participated as an observer during a period of warmer ties with Beijing.

The 79th WHA is scheduled to take place in Geneva from May 18-23, bringing together WHO member states to set global health policies and priorities.

Taiwan has not received an invitation to attend, and China said last week that it had decided not to agree to the "Taiwan region" participating in this year's WHA.