The embassy claimed that Mary Beth Leonard, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, was reported to have said that “Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Assembly undermines global health” indicating that China wrongfully blocked Taiwan from participating in the WHA.
Reacting to the said report, the Chinese government stated that the World Health Organization, WHO is an international organization only sovereign countries can join as Taiwan is not a sovereign country, it is an inalienable part of China.
Adding that “actually among 194 members of the World Health Organization, more than 150 countries, including Nigeria voiced their support for China, and more than 80 countries sent letters to WHO to express their commitment to the one-China principle and opposition to Taiwan’s participation in the WHA.”
Explaining the rule that guided the one-China principle, the embassy said “the Resolution 2758 of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in October 1971 and the Resolution 25.1 of WHA in May 1972 had already provided the legal basis for the WHO to abide by the one-China principle, and recognized Taiwan as part of China. One-China principle is an international consensus and adhered by 180 countries including the U.S.A.”
According to the embassy, the Central Government of China has made appropriate arrangements for the Taiwan region’s participation in global health affairs.
“Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Central Government of China has sent 260 notifications on COVID-19 to Taiwan region. Health experts in Taiwan region have participated in 16 WHO technical activities. The WHO Secretariat briefed health experts in Taiwan region several times on pandemic information.
“The so-called “international epidemic prevention gap” does not exist, nor do experts of Taiwan region lack channels and platforms to share response and control practices with others.”
