A Slovakian parliamentary committee passed a resolution on Wednesday expressing its support for Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Slovakian National Council passed a similar resolution last year also calling for Taiwan’s participation at the meeting.
The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO) and holds annual meetings attended by delegations from all WHO member states. Taiwan is not a WHO member, but attended the WHA meetings from 2009 to 2016 as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei.”
Taiwan’s representative office in Bratislava issued a press release thanking the committee for its resolution. It adds that the resolution affirms Taiwan’s achievements during the COVID-19 pandemic and acknowledges Taiwan’s contributions of medical assistance in war-torn Ukraine. Given these accomplishments, the resolution states that Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHA would represent a serious loss of expertise.
More support came from Japanese Diet member and Youth Division head Norikazu Suzuki, who is leading a delegation of Diet members to Taiwan. After meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday, Suzuki said he fully supports Taiwan’s participation in the WHA as an observer.