TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan will dispatch an "Action Team" to Geneva despite being excluded from the 78th World Health Assembly, Foreign Affairs Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) announced Friday (May 16). During a joint press conference, the ministers expressed frustration over Taiwan's continued diplomatic isolation from the global health forum, arguing that the exclusion directly contradicts the World Health Organization's founding principles of universal health coverage.
Health Minister Chiu revealed that he will personally lead the "Action Team" to Switzerland, with Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lue Jen-der (呂建德) serving as deputy leader and spokesperson for the delegation departing Friday evening. Chiu defended Taiwan's right to participate in global health governance, pointing to the island's internationally recognized achievements in healthcare delivery and pandemic management. "Health is a fundamental human right," he emphasized, rejecting Taiwan's diplomatic isolation from the world's premier health forum.
The delegation, which includes ambassador-at-large Wu Yung-tung (吳運東) and several high-ranking officials, plans to convene an international press conference in Geneva to advocate for Taiwan's observer status at the assembly. Foreign Minister Lin emphasized Taiwan's successful pandemic response strategies and innovative healthcare solutions. He characterized Taiwan's exclusion as detrimental to global health interests, citing the island's universally praised national health insurance system and rural healthcare initiatives.
Ambassador Wu addressed Taiwan's decades-long diplomatic struggle for WHO membership, which has been consistently blocked by Beijing's political pressure through U.N. Resolution 2758 and the "One China Policy." He called for WHO leadership to maintain scientific neutrality rather than political subservience. With the assembly poised to adopt a crucial "Pandemic Accord," Minister Lin warned that excluding Taiwan's 23.5 million people creates a dangerous gap in global health security architecture. ◼