(Photo : FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite rising support for Taiwan's participation, the World Health Organization decided not to invite Taiwan as a distinct entity to the annual assembly in Geneva.

Headline: WHO Excludes Taiwan From Annual Assembly After China Opposition

Subheading: China and Pakistan lobbied members to vote against Taiwan's participation.

Social Media: Taiwan was not invited to attend WHO's annual assembly in Geneva.

Summary: Despite rising support for Taiwan's participation, the World Health Organization decided not to invite Taiwan as a distinct entity to the annual assembly in Geneva.

Taiwan was not invited to the World Health Organization (WHO) annual session, despite the island's claims that support was rising for its participation.

After complaints from China, the Geneva annual assembly opted not to invite Taiwan to the event. According to reports, Pakistan and China lobbied members to vote against Taiwan's admission, while Eswatini and the Marshall Islands spoke in favor of Taiwan's participation.

Taiwan Excluded From WHO Annual Assembly

There is only "One China," and Taiwan is an inalienable component of the Asian superpower ruled by Beijing, according to Chen Xu, China's permanent representative to the UN headquarters in Geneva.

Per The Independent, Chen Xu reportedly told Xinhua that the one-China policy should be applied to Taiwan's involvement in WHO operations. He also said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government in Taiwan is trying to split China in two.

In recent years, China has increased its military presence in the area around the self-governed island, insisting that Taipei must reconnect with Beijing. China looks askance at Taiwan's multilateral and bilateral relations.

The WHO's decision was criticized by Taipei. It called China's decision to prevent it from joining international organizations a "contemptible" act and asserted that Beijing had no authority to speak on the island's behalf.

The foreign ministry has stated that only Taiwan's democratically elected government can represent Taiwan's 23 million people in the World Health Organization and other international organizations and safeguard the health and human rights of the Taiwanese people.

Nonetheless, Taiwan has stated that its absence from the WHO body has hampered attempts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being allowed to attend some of the technical WHO meetings.

Taiwan is excluded from full membership in the WHO but is permitted to participate in select technical meetings. Taiwan has claimed that this has hampered attempts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taiwan denies China's claims of sovereignty and asserts that the fate of the island can be decided solely by Taiwanese citizens.

The Chinese foreign ministry said, "This completely illustrates that the one-China concept is the ambition of the people and the trend of the times in the world community and cannot be contested in any manner."

The ministry also advised some nations to cease using "Taiwan to manipulate China" and to stop pretending to be puzzled about or politicizing the health problem. It urged other nations to quit meddling in China's domestic affairs using the Taiwan issue as an excuse.

Beijing's refusal to allow Taiwan's membership in international organizations is part of its ongoing campaign to cut Taiwan off from the rest of the world.

The Chinese foreign ministry applauded the WHA's decision, saying that almost 100 nations had backed China's "one China concept" and opposed Taiwan's membership. It labeled Taiwan's requests as "a political ruse to engage in 'Taiwan independence' separatist operations."

WHO's Decision Spaks Backlash

The British, American, Australian, French, Japanese, Lithuanian, Canadian, Czech, and German embassies in Taiwan all published statements last week in favor of Taiwan's membership.

They noted that Taiwan had previously been granted observer status and that inviting Taiwan as an observer would best illustrate the WHO's commitment to an inclusive, "health for all," approach to international health cooperation.

In a tweet sent on Sunday, the US embassy in Geneva said Taiwan's exclusion "undermines inclusive global public health collaboration headed by WHO."

According to reports, Taiwanese journalists covering the event were also barred from attending. CNA, a government-affiliated news agency, said on Monday that two journalists who had been granted press credentials the previous week were denied entry when they arrived in Geneva to pick them up.

When questioned if they "had to submit everything to China," the UN official reportedly nodded and confirmed the journalists' assertions, as reported by CNA.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the United Nations' Geneva office of having "failed to act impartially," and has asked the UN not to "give in to unjustified political pressure from some nations."

This restriction applies in all UN buildings across the world, not only to journalists but to anybody attending a UN function as a representative of a member state, civil society, business, or academia.

The World Health Organization and its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, have been accused of showing too much deference to China during the pandemic, a charge both organizations strongly refute, according to Guardian.

In March of 2020, an interview conducted by Hong Kong media with a top WHO consultant went viral when the adviser seemed to hang up on the journalist when questioned about Taiwan's pandemic response and then refused to answer any more questions since they had "already spoken about China."