France and several of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies have urged the WHO to stop excluding Taiwan. That came during the ongoing meeting of the WHO’s Executive Board, scheduled from January 24-29.
In the past Taiwan was allowed to attend the annual meeting of the WHO’s decision making body, the World Health Assembly, as an observer. However, it has not been invited in recent years due to Chinese pressure. On Monday, and again on Wednesday, the representatives of several countries called on the WHO to change course and include Taiwan.
Monday saw Taiwan’s sole South American ally, Paraguay, argue for Taiwan’s inclusion. Paraguayan Minister of Public Health and Social Wellbeing Julio Borba said that the world would benefit greatly from a chance to learn about how Taiwan has successfully staved off the worst of COVID-19. He also said that the WHO should include all members of the international community, including Taiwan.
However, the team of Spanish-to-English interpreters present at the meeting did not translate these remarks, prompting a protest from Paraguay. The WHO says that Borba was speaking too quickly.
On Thursday, France’s representative made an oblique reference to Taiwan by also calling for the WHO to be a transparent and inclusive body. This remark holds special weight, as France currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and was thus speaking on behalf of the EU as a whole.
Also on Thursday came remarks of support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO, praise for Taiwan’s success in containing COVID-19, and thanks for Taiwanese assistance in the face of COVID from several of Taiwan’s other diplomatic allies. By the end of the day’s proceedings, representatives of Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, and Eswatini had all spoken in support of Taiwan.
However, interpreters failed to convey pro-Taiwan remarks by Eswatini’s deputy health minister from English into other languages, saying that the deputy minister’s voice was not clear enough.