The world is grappling with containing the Wuhan coronavirus because China lied and the World Health Organization has repeatedly gone to bat for the regime. Instead of listening to Taiwan's warnings, the WHO turned a blind eye to the virus, all because China is punishing the country for questioning the regime and their tactics.
Even though the World Health Assembly is taking place next week, WHO's director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he has "no mandate" to invite Taiwan, Reuters reported.
Multiple countries have backed Taiwan's desire to observe the meeting, including the United States, Japan and New Zealand. China was reportedly upset about the backing, saying New Zealand needs to "stop making wrong statements" that could damage bilateral ties.
Taiwan wants to attend the meeting to share what the country has learned about containing the Wuhan coronavirus. The country has had only 440 infections and seven deaths in its population of 24 million, despite their close proximity to China. Even though the WHO has failed to keep Taiwan (and, frankly, the rest of the world) up-to-date on the coronavirus pandemic, Taiwanese officials have been successful at keeping the virus at bay.
Taiwan's Minister of Health and Welfare, Chen Shih-chung, said being able to attend the WHA meeting “will be an occasion where Taiwan can share our experience in areas such as testing, diagnosis, border control, and community outbreak prevention. To avoid a repeat of the current pandemic and effectively ensure global health security, the world must take action to improve communication and transparency."
The reason China doesn't want Taiwan to attend: the regime sees Taiwan as part of its providence, therefore they need no representation at the international table.
“On the Taiwan region’s participation in WHO activities, China’s position is clear and consistent. It must be handled according to the one-China principle,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a scheduled press conference last week, CNBC reported.
Beijing's official position on Taiwan is that they have done everything they can to address the Island's health emergencies but the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was pushing for independence from the mainland.
"Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the DPP authorities have been engaging in political manipulation and constant hype-up over the issue of Taiwan’s participation in WHO and WHA,” Hua said. “The real intention is very clear. They are taking advantage of the virus to seek independence."
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