World Health Assembly rejects Taiwan-related proposal

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.

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.