The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) stated that the world has noticed the WHO’s long-term discrimination against Taiwan.  127 European politicians sent a joint letter to the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom to express their strong support for Taiwan’s participation in next WHA. 

According to the MOFA’s news release, a joint letter was sent to Dr Tedros with signatures of 67 Members of the European Parliament (MEP) and 60 Members of the Bundestag of Germany.  In the statement, they praised Taiwan for the efforts in combating the spread of the coronavirus and stated that other countries could learn from Taiwan’s successful experiences.  They stressed that keeping Taiwan out of the WHO is a discrimination against the people in Taiwan. They hope Dr Tedros would invite Taiwan to attend next WHA meeting in light of the WHO’s principles of “Health for All” and “Leave No One Behind”.

The MOFA appreciated the support from the 127 European politicians.  They sympathize with Taiwan, whom has long been discriminated by the WHO.  This joint letter also demonstrates the untruthful accusation brought by Dr Tedros against Taiwan.  The MOFA hopes that Dr Tedros would make impartial and ethical decisions, take the 23 million Taiwan people’s welfare into account and stick to the WHO’s principle of “Leave No One Behind”.

The joint letter is initiated by MEP Ivan Štefanec, and supported by other 66 MEPs of six major political parties, including Andrey Kovatchev, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Ryszard Antoni Legutko and Michaela Šojdrová.  In Germany, the support for Taiwan is led by Anita Schäfer, Klaus-Peter Willsch and Erwin Rüddel.

Those European politicians all acknowledged the advanced planning and preventive actions taken by the Taiwanese government.  They stressed the importance of international collaboration and information sharing.  Taiwan’s experiences are valuable to the world. Therefore, they strongly support Taiwan to participate in WHO meetings and activities as an observer. 

【2020-04-11 / United Daily 】