Chen Shih-Chung, the Health and Welfare Minister of Taiwan has officially announced his decision to attend the World Health Assembly in Switzerland on 21st May despite not receiving an official invitation to the summit. In his defense, Chen has highlighted the fact that there is no reason for the 23 million Taiwanese citizens to be left out of Universal Health Care due to a mere political disagreement with China.
China has publicly pressurized WHO to not invite Taiwan to the WHA because the DPP government in Taiwan does not accept the 1992 consensus of a united ‘One China’. The country has also mocked Taiwan for playing the “victim card” in order to gain sympathy from the world community. In retaliation, Chen Shih-Chung announced that Taiwan was never “acting in a pathetic way” but now, they were ready to play the “anger card” to the world. When it became evident that Taiwan would not be officially invited to the summit, Chen promised that he would lead an uninvited delegation to Geneva on Friday night to speak to the Director of the World Health Assembly himself.
Chen also declared that WHA meetings had nothing to do with politics, and Taiwan would not sit back and watch China take away their human rights for global healthcare. He also stated that “no holes should be allowed” in globalizing the world to provide healthcare for all the communities and prevent the spread of devastating diseases. The WHA is set to span from the 21st of May, to the 26th, and major countries like the United States and Japan have already agreed to support Taiwan’s inclusion as an observer at the summit.