The foreign ministry says the reason why several countries have imposed a travel ban on Taiwanese is due to the WHO’s labelling Taiwan as part of China in its report on the COVID-19 outbreak. That’s the word from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou on Wednesday.
COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December. The highly contagious disease has killed over 2,000 people and infected more than 74,000, mostly in China. Taiwan has 23 cases and one death.
Several countries have since imposed a travel ban on Taiwanese citizens. They include Italy, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mongolia, Israel and Mauritius. Vietnam and the Philippines have removed the ban after negotiating with Taiwan. However, Ou said there has been no progress in talks of ending Italy’s three-month ban on Taiwanese passport holders.
Ou said the problem lies in WHO’s labelling Taiwan as part of China, which has led to misunderstanding and confusion. Ou said the government has urged the WHO to correct its mistake as soon as possible.