The foreign ministry has thanked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland for supporting Taiwan’s participation in the WHO.
During a meeting of Japanese lawmakers Wednesday, Abe said he had spoken to the WHO’s secretary-general in the past about Taiwan’s inclusion, telling him that viruses do not respect borders. He said that Taiwan was the first to report to the WHO about COVID-19’s transmissibility between people.
Meanwhile, at the Canadian Parliament, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Freeland said that Canada supports Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO’s decision making body as an observer. In recent years, Taiwan has been excluded from this body, the World Health Assembly, due to Chinese pressure. Freeland said that Canada believes Taiwan’s inclusion as an observer once more would benefit the international community.