A senior US State Department official called for Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday as the world faces the spread of China’s coronavirus.
The unnamed official said in a special briefing that “We would encourage further incorporation of Taiwan in the WHO.” The official said, “This is an important time, as you are seeing, the corona cases are popping up in Taiwan.” The official said that the US hopes Beijing will see the benefits of Taiwan’s participation in coping with the new SARS-like coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
In France, French National Assembly member Eric Bothorel also urged the WHO to include Taiwan as much as possible in the 2019-nCoV response. He tweeted, “Bring back Taiwan to the WHO now. Given the current situation, it is imperative that Taiwan be allowed to participate in the organization, at least in the capacity of an observer.”
The WHO recently held an emergency meeting over the coronavirus outbreak and Taiwan was not invited to attend. Experts from all other affected countries participated.
Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control said it would try to obtain info from experts from friendly countries.