On November 9, the resumed session of the 73rd World Health Assembly refused to include the so-called proposal of "inviting Taiwan to attend the WHA as an observer" in its provisional agenda. This decision, consistent with provisions of relevant resolutions of the UNGA and the WHA, is a further testament that the one-China principle is an overriding trend with wide support that cannot be challenged. The participation of the Taiwan region, which is part of China, in the WHA must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle, which is a fundamental principle enshrined in UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1. The vast majority of WHO member states uphold the authority of the UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 and adhere to one-China principle. China highly commends that.
The people in the Taiwan region are our compatriots. The Central Government of China takes all necessary measures to ensure the health and well-being of our Taiwan compatriots. After COVID-19 broke out, we invited health experts from the Taiwan region, before inviting anyone else outside the mainland, to visit Wuhan, Hubei province to see the situation on the ground, and we have given the Taiwan region 245 updates about the COVID-19 outbreak. Based on the one-China principle, the Central Government of China has made appropriate arrangements for Taiwan's participation in global health affairs. Since 2019, health experts in 24 groups from the Taiwan region have participated in WHO's technical activities, including WHO information Meeting on the Composition of the Influenza Virus Vaccines for the Southern Hemisphere 2021, Global Vaccine Safety Summit, Covid-19 Global Research and Innovation Forum and so on. There is an International Health Regulations Contact Point in the Taiwan region so it can obtain timely information on global public health emergencies released by the WHO and report its public health emergency information to the WHO in a timely manner as well. With China's prior consent, Secretariat of the WHO briefed health experts from the Taiwan region about the global COVID-19 situation respectively in February, April and October in 2020. Taiwan region joined the COVAX convened by CEPI GAVI and WHO. All channels of information on epidemic prevention and control are unimpeded and effective, a guarantee for the Taiwan region to respond in a timely and effective manner to public health incidents on the island or elsewhere in the world.
The so-called "international epidemic prevention gap" is just an excuse for the DPP authorities to seek independence under the pretext of the epidemics, which has already been seen through by the international community long ago. Over the past years, the so-called Taiwan-related proposal has been rejected by WHA for many times, which is a strong showcase of international consensus on the one-China principle.We urge the DPP authorities to acknowledge the facts and not go further down the wrong path of seeking independence. We also urge some countries to stop any action that challenges the one-China principle.