President Tsai Ing-wen says she believes Taiwan joining the World Health Organization (WHO) would not only benefit Taiwan, it would also benefit the whole world. She was responding to a question on Monday about a recent statement from the WHO regarding Taiwan.
The WHO said that it was up to WHO members, not the organization’s officials, to decide whether Taiwan could join the WHO. That statement followed criticism of WHO Assistant Director General Bruce Aylward, who evaded a question about Taiwan’s membership during an interview with Radio Television Hong Kong journalist Yvonne Tong.
President Tsai said, “We hope that after this epidemic, other countries can have a better understanding of Taiwan’s abilities and what it can contribute and really consider allowing Taiwan to become part of the global epidemic prevention system. This would help ensure the health of the Taiwan people, and the world’s medical care systems would also be better off with Taiwan’s participation.”
President Tsai said that she and Premier Su Tseng-chang have been amazed at how Taiwan has increased its production of masks from just a few million a day to ten million a day. Now they are working toward boosting output to 15 to 20 million surgical masks a day. She said this is a great example of Taiwan’s spirit and resilience.
President Tsai said that Taiwan has become a global model of not only mask production, but also distribution and rationing. Masks are now available for purchase online and can be picked up at convenience stores.