The foreign ministry has thanked the Czech Republic for supporting Taiwan’s bid to participate in this year’s World Health Assembly. The statement on Friday comes after the Czech Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for Taiwan to take part in all divisions of the World Health Organization. It’s the first time such a motion has progressed in a legislative chamber in the country.
Taiwan had observer status at the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO, between 2009 and 2016. But the organization revoked that status in 2016 after pressure from China. Since then, Taiwan has been campaigning to rejoin.
Wednesday’s resolution in the Czech Senate shows approval for the results of cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic. That comes a year after the two countries gave a joint statement in April 2020, committing to working together to combat COVID-19. The Senate resolution also calls on the Czech government to show clear support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry says it will continue to strengthen bilateral ties with the Czech Republic and other like-minded countries. It says it will continue to promote the message “Taiwan can help; let Taiwan help” to obtain representation in several target international organizations. Those include the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.