Health minister headed to Geneva to push for Taiwan's WHA inclusion

Taipei, May 24 (CNA) A delegation led by Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) will set out for Geneva on Friday night to call for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA), which begins in the Swiss city on May 27.

Taiwan has not received an invitation to the annual assembly, but the delegation will travel to Geneva to call for Taiwan's inclusion in the WHA and seek "substantive collaborations" with other countries, Chiu said at a press conference in Taipei on Friday.

He did not describe what kind of collaborations the delegation organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) was seeking, but he said the group is planning to hold a press conference for foreign media and a number of bilateral meetings.

WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Excluding Taiwan from the WHA would be a loss to the world given what Taiwan can contribute in the medical field, Chiu said, adding that such a move also contradicted the WHO's charter.

The 77th WHA will be held from May 27 to June 1 in Geneva, but Taiwan, which is not a member of the United Nations, cannot join because it did not receive an invitation to the WHA for an eighth consecutive year.

The Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, left the WHO in 1972 following a decision by the U.N. to expel the ROC and recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the only "legitimate representative of China."

Taiwan was able to participate in the WHA from 2009 to 2016 as an observer under the name Chinese Taipei when relations with China under the then Kuomintang administration were better.

Since the Democratic Progressive Party took power in 2016, relations with China have deteriorated, and Beijing has blocked Taiwan's attempts to participate in U.N.-affiliated organizations.

Taiwan's top health officials have continued to travel to Geneva during the period when WHA meetings are held, but have never made any headway on participating in the WHA proceedings, instead holding public relations events to plead Taiwan's case.

This year's MOHW delegation will also include Deputy Health Minister Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), National Health Insurance Administration head Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), and other medical experts, according to the ministry.

In addition to the ministry's delegation, the Legislature will also send a bipartisan group to Geneva on Friday evening to promote the country's participation in the U.N. agency.

The legislative group will be led by Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT). His KMT colleague Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), legislators Wang Cheng-hsu (王正旭) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Lin Yi-chun (林憶君) of the Taiwan People's Party will also join the group.