TAIPEI (TVBS News)—The U.S. Bureau of International Organization Affairs on Sunday (Feb. 9) urged Taiwan's participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly (WHA), citing its exclusion as having a direct negative impact on the well-being of the American people and the international community.
The bureau shared its support for Taiwan on the social media platform X, asserting that no reasonable justification exists for Taiwan's exclusion. The post included the hashtag #TaiwanCanHelp and featured a video of a U.S. representative at the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board meeting discussing Taiwan.
The representative stated that isolating Taiwan from the global public health community undermines its valuable contributions and prevents the broader international community from benefiting from Taiwan's expertise and resources, especially its experiences during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
The representative highlighted Taiwan's previous role as a WHA observer from 2009 to 2016, insisting there is no valid reason for its current exclusion. He asserted that Taiwan's participation would benefit the world and reiterated the U.S.'s longstanding policy of supporting Taiwan's meaningful involvement in international forums, including the WHA.
He also noted that U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758 does not exclude Taiwan from participating in the U.N. system and should not be used as a basis for its exclusion. Misinterpreting the resolution deprives the international community of Taiwan's valuable experiences, and resources needed to address urgent challenges.