In a video interview, a senior executive from the organization refuses to discuss Taipei. The Chinese regime boycotts the island internationally. The Taiwanese success story in fighting coronavirus. The "rebel province" cannot access sensitive information on possible pandemics.
Taipei (AsiaNews / Agencies) – Taiwan has appealed to the World Health Organization (WHO) to be allowed to fully participate in its work, labelling the restrictions imposed on its involvement in the battle against the coronavirus as "unjust".
On March 28, when asked if the WHO would accept the island's application for participation, a senior executive of the organization was first silent; then, at the interviewer's insistence, he interrupted the video link with Rthk, a Hong Kong TV channel.
When contacted WHO assistant director general, Bruce Aylward, replied that he had already spoken about China - apparently marrying the official position of Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be a rebel province, part of the one China.
The WHO said on March 28 that Taipei has not been left alone in the fight against the pulmonary epidemic, and that it is collaborating with local experts. At the same time, it stressed that it is up to the Member States to give the possible go-ahead to the island's entry into the organization. So far, the Beijing regime has blocked Taiwanese participation in the organization as well as other international institutions.
The island has one of the most modern health systems in the world and is effectively and efficiently countering the lung infection. Its intervention model - like that of South Korea - is considered a "liberal" alternative to China's draconian methods. So far Taiwan has recorded 322 infections and 5 deaths.
The Taiwanese foreign ministry complained that despite contacts with the WHO, the data that the Taiwanese health authorities provide to the organization is not shared with other states. The island is also excluded from the WHO system for rapid response to pandemics, so it cannot quickly receive sensitive information.
From 2009 to 2019, Taiwan was allowed to participate in 57 WHO technical meetings out of a total of 187 requests. The island is a founding member of the organization, from which it was expelled in 1972, when the United Nations recognized the government of Beijing as the only legitimate representative of China.