Five years after it had been excluded, a self-ruled island claimed by China has found new friends in the campaign to attend health body as an observer.
Taiwan and its supporters are campaigning hard to ascertain its return as an observer at the planet Health Assembly, the administration of the planet Health Organization, which is thanks to meet from Commonwealth Day.
Taiwan’s successful handling of COVID-19 for quite a year and a half has brought renewed attention to Taiwan’s absence from the WHA, which it's not attended since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen.
US legislators have regularly involved Taiwan to return as an observer in years past, but at this point, the G7 has thrown its support behind Taiwan while a coordinated social media campaign this year under the hashtag of #LetTaiwanHelp has expanded to incorporate legislators from Europe, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
At the top of April, 16 members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) released a campaign video urging the WHA to ask Taiwan, coinciding with a surge in tweets from US Congressional legislators and therefore the US State Department.
“In the past, efforts out of Congress centered on sending letters to the WHO or the chief Branch or to capitals abroad to invite support for Taiwan’s inclusion. This year, however, there was a way more public and thus, more far-reaching, approach,” said Jessica Drum, a non-resident fellow at the US-based Project 2049 Institute.
“This brought in parliamentarians from across the planet – and across party lines. it had been likewise ready to grow organically on the social media platform, generating statements from other leaders also as public figures and activists,” she said.
Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-Kwang has said the govt will still hope for a call for participation until the eleventh hour because it makes use of the #LetTaiwanHelp hashtag to beat up support and therefore the new #TaiwanIsHelping hashtag to market its donations of oxygen tanks and other medical supplies to hard-hit countries like India.
Taiwan imposes tight restrictions and expects more COVID vaccines to arrive.
#LetTaiwanHelp
Yeh Ching-Chuan, who attended the WHA in 2009 as an observer when he was minister of health, says that at that point Taiwan was ready to bring approximately 15 experts to attend scientific sessions and present on topics including the island’s successful social insurance program.
“It may be a short meeting,” Yeh said.
“The WHA is merely two days then there are the scientific meetings, but it's meaningful the participation. For those countries that don’t have a diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, they're still curious about some fields and contacted our experts even after they are available back.”
Great meeting with Minister Chen from Taiwan to discuss the ongoing pandemic & global health issues. The U.S. supports Taiwan’s ability to access vaccines, its contributions to health security, & its return to observership at the #WHA #LetTaiwanHelp pic.twitter.com/xC4cPoFSZm
— Office of Global Affairs, HHS (@HHS_Global) May 21, 2021
Until this month, the island had but 1,200 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths, although infection rates in Taipei and New Taipei City are now climbing following an epidemic linked to a cluster that began with a gaggle of China Airlines pilots in early May.
Known formally because the Republic of China, Taiwan originally represented China at the WHO and WHA but it had been expelled from the organizations in 1972, a year after Beijing was formally admitted to the United Nations.
Taiwan was invited to attend an observer from 2009 to 2016 during the relatively China-friendly presidency of Ma Ying-jeou but that provision was rescinded once Tsai took office.
New friends
Since her election, Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own, has pushed to limit Taiwan’s international presence and participation even in non-political organizations like the WHO and therefore the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The number of nations with which Taiwan has maintained formal diplomatic relations has also shrunk since Tsai became president – with just 15 states currently recognizing Taipei over Beijing.
However, growing fears about China’s influence in Europe have also brought Taiwan new allies in unlikely places including Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and therefore the European Parliament.
Ahead of the WHA, the Czech Senate passed a resolution calling for Taiwan’s participation in “all meetings, mechanisms and activities” of the WHO, while Lithuania and Czech legislators sit on IPAC, alongside representatives from 10 other European countries.
“A few years ago, Taiwan wasn't seen together of the main players in either the ECU Asia strategy or countries’ [individual] strategies. This has obviously changed thanks to the developments in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, the coronavirus pandemic, and therefore the US administration specializes in the island,” said Ivana Karásková, a China research fellow and a project coordinator at the Association for world affairs in Prague.
“As for the sensible implications, it's going to not change the island’s isolation in international organizations and forums but it signals that countries are willing to interact with Taiwan.”
MORE| Taiwan imposes tight restrictions and expects more COVID vaccines to arrive.
0 Comments