World Health Assembly rejects Taiwan-related proposal

Photo taken in Brussels, Belgium on May 24, 2021 shows the live stream of the 74th World Health Assembly held at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

"We urge relevant countries to stop politicizing health issues and using Taiwan issues to interfere in China's internal affairs, and stop disturbing the proper order of the Assembly," said Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

GENEVA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday refused to include a proposal on Taiwan's participation in its agenda.

Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said in a statement at the meeting that the Chinese delegation firmly supported the recommendation by the General Committee of the 74th WHA to not include the Taiwan-related proposal in the agenda.

Noting that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Chen said: "The UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 provided the legal basis for WHO to abide by the one-China principle, and recognized Taiwan as part of China. The Taiwan-related proposal is in violation of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, runs against the WHO's Constitution and the WHA's Rules of Procedure, and is illegal and invalid."

The Taiwan region's participation in the WHA must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle and through cross-strait consultations, he stressed.

"The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in the Taiwan region obstinately adhered to the separatist position of 'Taiwan independence' and refused to recognize that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and same China. As a result, the political foundation for the Taiwan region to participate in WHA has ceased to exist," he said.

Photo taken on May 20, 2021 shows the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Chen Junxia)

According to Chen, based on the one-China principle, the Chinese central government has made appropriate arrangements for the Taiwan region's participation in global health affairs.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the central government has sent 260 notifications on COVID-19 to the Taiwan region. Health experts in the Taiwan region have participated in 16 WHO technical activities. The WHO Secretariat briefed health experts in the Taiwan region several times on pandemic information.

"The so-called 'international epidemic prevention gap' does not exist, nor do experts of the Taiwan region lack channels and platforms to share response and control practices with others," he said.

The Chinese diplomat noted that the WHA has already reached a conclusion on the Taiwan-related issue. Certain countries' insistence on submitting a Taiwan-related proposal harmed the global anti-pandemic cooperation efforts and the common interest of the WHO member states.

"We urge relevant countries to stop politicizing health issues and using Taiwan issues to interfere in China's internal affairs, and stop disturbing the proper order of the Assembly," Chen said.

Before the assembly, more than 150 countries have, through diplomatic channels, and over 80 countries have, through sending letters to the WHO, expressed their adherence to the one-China principle and their opposition to Taiwan's participation in the WHA, according to Chen.

"Facts have repeatedly proved that making Taiwan-related proposals is unpopular," he told reporters after Monday's meeting, adding that any secessionist attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" is doomed to fail.