18th May, 2020
Taiwan is protesting its exclusion from the World Health Organisation’s annual two-day meeting which opened on Monday.
A few dozens of friendly countries including Taiwan have urged the WHO to invite the island nation to the online meeting to discuss its containment of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-Chung told a news conference in Taipei; “It’s a loss for the WHO that the Taiwan model won’t be able to be shared at such an important meeting’’.
“A letter of protest will be immediately sent to the WHO”, Chen added.
A growing number of world leaders have spoken out publicly for Taiwan, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“The WHO Secretariat should listen carefully to reasonable appeals from the international community,’’ Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said.