(TECRO) Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) strongly condemns the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for blocking a proposal concerning Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA) during the 117th Session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board held from January 23-27 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The PRC’s latest interference in Taiwan’s bid to participate in the WHA comes at a time when global disease-prevention cooperation is desperately needed to contain the increasingly rapid spread of avian flu. MOFA is protesting this interference to the WHO, and regrets that by not including the proposal to include the issue of Taiwan’s participation in the provisional agenda of the 59th WHA session in May, the WHO’s Executive Board has violated the WHA’s Rules of Procedure.

According to Rule 5(d) of the WHA Rules of Procedure, the Executive Board was obliged to include the item on the WHA provisional agenda. Yet owing to PRC manipulation, the Executive Board decided not to include the item in the WHA provisional agenda in May this year. During the session, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Belize, launched a strong protest against the Executive Board for violating the WHA Rules of Procedure, and emphasized that it would seek other opportunities to re-submit the same proposal.

The proposal, submitted to the WHO Secretariat by Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua, was presented as a request to include an item entitled “Invitation to Taiwan to participate in the World Health Assembly as an Observer and consideration of adequate measures to facilitate its meaningful participation in relevant meetings and disease control mechanisms of the World Health Organization” on the provisional agenda for the WHA session in May.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the PRC has suppressed Taiwan’s effort to taking part in the global health community. In January, the PRC also refused to invite Taiwan to send representatives to the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza, held January 17-18 in Beijing, once again dismissing the right to health and welfare of the 23 million people of Taiwan.

MOFA said Taiwan will stand proud and continue with its rightful requests for its WHA participation at the forthcoming 59th Session of the WHA in May.