The number of countries voicing support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s decision-making body, has continued to grow.
As of Wednesday, the third day of the assembly’s annual meeting, a total of 13 countries have backed Taiwan’s return to the assembly. In previous years, Taiwan has taken part in assembly meetings as an observer. However, for the past several years, it has been excluded from the meetings due to Chinese pressure.
With the exception of the United States and Japan, the eleven other countries—Belize, eSwatini, Nicaragua, St. Kitts and Nevis, Honduras, Nauru, Guatemala, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Haiti—are all countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
During Wednesday’s assembly session, Haiti said that the international community must mobilize in order to achieve its public health goals. Referring to Taiwan, Haiti’s representative also said that no person should be left out in this mobilization.
Meanwhile, in a written statement presented to the assembly, Tuvalu said that the WHO’s reputation will be damaged if it puts political concerns above its goal of global health. The statement said that Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Assembly runs counter to joint efforts to improve global health. The statement said it is therefore necessary that Taiwan play an active role in the international community and resume its observer status in the World Health Assembly.