China's refusal for Taiwan's participation in WHA gains support

BEIJING -- China's decision not to agree with the Taiwan region's participation in this year's World Health Assembly (WHA) has received broad-based support and understanding from the international community, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks when answering a query regarding the international support for China's decision.

The 75th WHA will take place from May 22 to 28. Taiwan is not invited.

There is only one China in the world. The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, said Wang, adding that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

The Taiwan region's participation in the activities of international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), must be handled under the one-China principle. This fundamental principle is confirmed in UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, said the spokesperson.

He stressed that, for eight consecutive years from 2009 to 2016, China made special arrangements for the Taiwan region's participation in the WHA on the basis of adherence to the one-China principle on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

But since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power, it has placed its political agenda over the well-being of the people in the Taiwan region, obstinately adhering to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence" and refusing to admit the 1992 Consensus embodying the one-China principle. As a result, the political foundation for the Taiwan region to participate in the WHA has ceased to exist, Wang said.

"The Chinese Central Government attaches great importance to the health and well-being of our compatriots in the Taiwan region and has made proper arrangements for Taiwan's participation in global health affairs on the precondition of following the one-China principle," he said.

The Central Government has given the Taiwan region about 400 updates about the pandemic situation since the start of COVID-19 and approved 47 visits by public health experts from the Taiwan region to 44 WHO technical activities over the past year. The Taiwan region received multiple notifications of COVID-19 information from the WHO Secretariat.

"The claim of a 'gap' in global anti-pandemic efforts is thus groundless," said Wang, adding that the DPP authorities, turning a blind eye to the common aspiration of the international community to focus on anti-pandemic cooperation and the life and safety of the people in the Taiwan region, are pursuing political maneuvering under the pretext of the pandemic in violation of UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1.

"They are bent on initiating proposals relating to the Taiwan region at the cost of disrupting the WHA proceedings and international cooperation, with the real motive of creating 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan'," said the spokesperson.

To safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and uphold the solemnity and authority of relevant UNGA and WHA resolutions, China cannot agree with the Taiwan region's participation in this year's WHA. This decision by China received broad-based support and understanding from the international community, Wang said.

He said that, so far, nearly 90 countries have sent letters to the WHO to express their commitment to the one-China principle and opposition to Taiwan's participation in the WHA. "This once again shows that the one-China principle is the common aspiration and the overriding trend, and the fact that the overwhelming majority of countries hold a just and right position on the relevant issue."

"People around the world are always clear-eyed. Any attempt to play the 'Taiwan card' to contain China will be firmly rejected by the overwhelming majority of members of the international community and is doomed to fail," said the spokesperson.