By Matthew Strong, Staff Writer — Taiwan News, Thursday 19 May 2022
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A total of 1,504 parliamentarians from 32 European countries and Canada signed a letter to The World Health Organization (WHO) backing Taiwan’s bid to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA), reports said on Thursday 19 May. As in previous years Taiwan has not been invited to the annual conference, this year scheduled for May 22–28 in Geneva, but international support for its bid to attend as an observer has increased significantly amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A pro-Taiwan association of lawmakers, the Formosa Club, said its co-chairs were among the 1,504 members of the European Parliament and national legislators who signed a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The document praised Taiwan for providing the world with “a model for pandemic prevention” while noting that educational and business activities in Taiwan were never seriously interrupted. The Formosa Club mentioned that Taiwan had not only managed its domestic COVID situation but also contributed to international efforts through donations of medical masks, vaccines and equipment to more than 80 countries. The letter closed by calling on Ghebreyesus to invite Taiwan to the 75th edition of The WHA and to normalise its participation in all relevant WHO events, noting that “matters of global health should focus solely on people’s well-being and must not be politicized.”