Even as China continues to oppose Taipei’s bid to become a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Taiwan has appealed to India to endorse its demand that the country is allowed to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva on 18-19 May to share its experiences in fighting COVID-19.

“India will soon take over the Chair of the Executive Board of the WHO after its annual meeting later this month. Taiwan cherishes the valuable relations with the Government of India and its people and hopes the relations will get further strengthened,” according to Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC).

He said Taiwan was confident that New Delhi would appreciate and support his country’s right to participate at WHA, the decision-making body of the WHO.

Taiwan attended the WHA as an observer from 2009-2016 but since 2017, China has blocked its participation after Tsai Ing-wen was elected as Taiwan President.

India has been hesitant to support the participation of Taiwan at the WHA since it adheres to the ”One China Policy”. Sources in the Indian government said the agenda and procedures for the WHA meeting were still evolving. The US and several other key countries have strongly pitched for allowing Taiwan to resume participating in WHA meetings as an observer.

The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, meanwhile, issued another note today, saying Taiwan, being part of China, has no right to join the WHO. ”The WHO is a specialised agency of the UN composed of sovereign states. As part of China, Taiwan has no right to join the WHO. Its participation in the activities of the WHO and other international organisations must be arranged through cross-straits consultations under the one-China principle,” the note added.

But the Taiwanese envoy asserted that “Taiwan and China are separate jurisdictions, neither subordinate to the other. Regrettably, since 2017, the WHO has continually caved into China’s unreasonable interference and discontinued its practice of issuing invitations to Taiwan to attend the WHA as an observer.”

He said the WHO Secretariat should set aside political considerations and allow Taiwan to participate in WHO meetings and activities, particularly those concerning COVID-19.