Taiwan has both the capability and the determination to make contributions to global public health and should not be excluded from the world’s health system due to political factors. That came from President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) during a meeting with the Taiwan WHA Action Team led by Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) on Thursday, May 28.

Lai said that 11 of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies submitted proposals supporting Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, while 26 countries and the European Union made statements in support of Taiwan. He says this clearly shows that Taiwan should not be excluded from the global health system. Lai added that Taiwan is willing to stand with the world to jointly safeguard the health and well-being of all humanity.

Lai thanked the Foreign and Economy Ministries for organizing events on the sidelines of the recent WHA meeting in Geneva, which ended on May 23. Taiwan has not been invited to WHA meetings since 2016, but participated as an observer from 2009 to 2016 under the name Chinese Taipei.