Once again this year the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva has given in to pressure from Beijing and denied Taiwan the ability to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) meetings from May 20 to 28. In doing so, the WHO is violating the very spirit of its constitution, which states that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right of every human being.
This marks the third consecutive year that Taiwan isn’t sent an invitation to participate in the high-level meetings. Having ceded control over global health decision making to politicians in authoritarian China, the WHO is denying 23.5 million people in Taiwan a chance to be represented in Geneva, all because the democratically elected government in Taipei refuses to be coerced by the Chinese Communist Party into agreeing to the “one China” principle, which among other things would impose a formula for annexation – “one country, two systems” – which is morally and politically bankrupt.
