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World Health Assembly Excludes Taiwan Issue from Agenda
The 54th World Health Assembly (WHA) Monday turned down a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate in the assembly as an observer and decided by consensus to exclude the Taiwan issue from the meeting agenda.
Speaking at the General Council meeting and the opening plenary session of the WHA, Chinese Deputy Health Minister Peng Yu said that China was strongly opposed to the proposal tabled by Honduras and a few other countries.
Peng said that similar proposals had been raised in the previous four years and were rejected by the assembly which showed that the majority of the WHO member states remained opposed to such proposals.
She pointed out that the U.N. General Assembly resolution 2758 (1971) and the WHA resolution 25.1 (1972) had provided once for all a solution to the issue of representation of China in both the United Nations and WHO.
She said that Taiwan, as a province of China, has no qualification to participate in WHO activities in any manner or whatever name or to attend the WHA in any name.
"The Taiwan issue is an internal affair of China," she stressed. "It should and must be resolved by the Chinese people. No foreign country has the right to meddle or interfere. Any proposal to include Taiwan into WHO activities for whatever reason or in whatever name is politically motivated with the aim to create 'two Chinas' or 'One China, One Taiwan'."
"Such an act constitutes an encroachment upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and it is an interference into China's internal affairs, which can not be accepted by the Chinese government and People," said Peng.
Talking about the health issue of people living in Taiwan, Peng said that the Chinese government has always been attaching great importance to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the Taiwan compatriots. Taiwan compatriots like Chinese people in the rest of the country are entitled to all services provided by WHO.
The WHA is WHO's highest governing body and holds annual meetings among the 191 member states. The 54th WHA takes place this year from May 14 to 22 in Geneva.
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