California Taiwanese Community Calls on US Government to Support Taiwan’s WHA Participation

Since 2017, Taiwan has been excluded from world health governing body

At a joint press conference on May 6, Taiwanese organizations in Northern California urged more support from the U.S. government, to push WHO to allow Taiwan to participate in the WHA. Nathan Su/The Epoch Times

MILPITAS, Calif.—Several Taiwanese organizations held a joint press conference Saturday to raise awareness of the Chinese regime’s continued effort to block Taiwan from attending the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA).

The 76th WHA will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from May 21–30. Once again, Taiwan did not receive an invitation.

Li Hangwen, the main organizer of the May 6 event, urged the U.S. government to push the World Health Organization (WHO) to allow Taiwan to participate in the WHA. Li is the coordinator for the Northern California South Bay Taiwanese Overseas Communities. The WHA is WHO’s decision-making body.

Since 2017, the WHA has excluded Taiwan from its operations, siding with Beijing’s “One China” stance, which claims that Taiwan is a part of China, giving the communist regime the right to represent Taiwan at the international health body. As a result, Taiwan has had no access to the health-related information and benefits that WHO strives to “give everyone, everywhere,” according to its website.

Li stressed that Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, was one of the founding members of the United Nations. WHO is an agency of the United Nations.

Scott Lai is the director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco. At the press conference, he addressed Taiwan’s qualifications for participation in the WHA.

First of all, Lai said, Taiwan has 23 million people and about 14,000 square miles of land, making it one of the world’s most densely populated countries.

Further, Taiwan’s GDP per capita was almost $34,000 in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund, among the world’s highest, while its GDP was almost $900 billion, number 18 in the world.

Taiwan’s economic freedom and competitiveness are ranked among the highest in the world. Known for its information and communication technology industry, the island country boasts some of the world’s top semiconductor manufacturers.

Lai asserted that excluding Taiwan from the WHA is not only unfair to Taiwan, but a disadvantage to the rest of the world. He noted that every year more than 70 million people travel in and out of Taiwan. Blocking Taiwan’s participation in the WHA, therefore, leaves a large hole in international pandemic prevention efforts, he said.

Significantly, he said, Taiwan’s healthcare system was ranked number one in the world on Numbeo’s 2023 global healthcare index.

Among its contributions to global public healthcare, it has sent medical teams to Ukraine and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland); in addition, it has helped train more than 2,000 foreign medical professionals over the past two decades.

“Health is a universal value, and health is a basic right,” said Zhuang Yashu, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco. No countries should be excluded from the WHA, Zhuang said.

Zhou Xinjie, the president of the South East Bay Taiwanese Association of Northern California, criticized Beijing’s leaders for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while asserting dominance over Taiwan. Taiwan needs to work with the world’s democratic countries to fight for basic rights, he said.