International community supports China's objection to Taiwan region participation in WHA

The overwhelming majority of the international community has expressed their opposition to the Taiwan region's participation in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), said a Chinese representative on Saturday.

China has decided not to approve the Taiwan region's participation in this year's WHA, which is set to be held in Geneva from May 27 to June 1, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on May 13.

After coming into power in 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of the Taiwan region has refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus and been hellbent on the separatist stance of "Taiwan independence," said the ministry. "As a result, the political foundation for the Taiwan region to participate in the WHA no longer exists."

Yang Zhilun, minister-counsellor of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva, said at a briefing on Saturday that the vast majority of countries have reaffirmed to China their commitment to UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and their firm support for the one-China principle.

More than 100 countries wrote to the WHO director-general or expressed via other means their support for China's position, said Yang.

This shows where global opinion trends and the arc of history bends, said Yang.

He slammed a Taiwan-related proposal, put forward by a small number of countries in the run-up to the WHA, as one out of political manipulation.

The DPP authority has instigated the very small number of countries to once again come up with the highly confrontational proposal, said Yang.

"This is very inappropriate and unrealistic," he said. "The only prospect for the proposal is to be defeated."