The World Health Assembly (WHA) has denied Taiwan’s request to join its annual meeting as an observer amid “political pressure” from China, a decision that Taiwan warns could pose a “serious threat” to global health.
The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO annual meeting on global public health priorities began May 21 and runs through May 30.
The assembly decided on May 22 that it would not extend an invitation to Taiwan. China and Pakistan urged members to reject Taiwan’s inclusion, while Eswatini, the Marshall Islands, Belize, and Nauru spoke in Taiwan’s favor.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry denounced the WHA’s decision, saying that its inclusion in the meeting was a matter of global health, which “should not be subject to political interference from any single country.”…