China has abused its powers to keep a country that, unlike it, managed the disease without tyranny out of discussions about global health going forward.
China has abused its powers to keep a country that, unlike it, managed the disease without tyranny out of discussions about global health going forward.
O n May 12, the U.S. faced the tragic milestone of 1 million deaths from Covid-19. Fifteen million lives have been lost worldwide from the pandemic. Disease knows no borders, making it crucial for the World Health Organization (WHO) to call for health for all and leave no one behind. As the world strives to move beyond Covid, now is the time to consider what was done right and what went wrong in order to draw meaningful lessons from this ongoing tragedy.
In particular, the world should take a closer look at the WHO, and moreover, Taiwan’s exclusion from it, including its annual World Health Assembly (WHA), which began its annual meeting this past Sunday.
Taiwan was the first country to alert the WHO about a possible outbreak of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan, and it has successfully managed to contain the coronavirus despite lacking material support and crucial information from the WHO.
In addition, as our country looks toward the future, Taiwan has adopted more relaxed restrictions that preserve health-care capacity for high-risk groups while allowing people to lead normal lives. Our government’s new model for Covid-19 containment strikes a balance between full virus prevention and reopening the economy. More generally, we have emphasized transparency and a flexible approach throughout the pandemic.
All of this stands in stark contrast to China, whose government has been blocking Taiwan’s participation in the WHO. Beijing has doubled down on its “zero-Covid” strategy in recent months: Chinese cities continue to live under lockdown, and millions have been out of work because of the draconian policies employed to prevent infections. Groups that are often financially vulnerable, such as migrant workers and recent college graduates, have been especially hard-hit by the rigid policies in place.
Despite these issues, the CCP continues to exert its influence over the WHO. For example, China continuously downplayed the WHO’s concerns about a delay in authorizing a visit by a WHO team meant to investigate the origins of the coronavirus outbreak. When WHO investigators were finally allowed to travel to Wuhan, China refused to hand over important data. The WHO program manager and mission leader later noted that “politics was always in the room” during the trip.
While China continues to erase Taiwan’s presence in international organizations, there is already precedent for Taiwan’s participation at the WHA. From 2009 to 2016, Taiwan held observer status. Unfortunately, it has not received an invitation since 2016 due to pressure from Beijing.
Beijing’s attempted justifications are based on its brand of revisionist history, including its own one-China principle, misuse of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758, and false claims that Taiwan is a part of the PRC. None of these falsehoods can or should detract from Taiwan’s ability to be a force for good in global health.
Indeed, from both an ethical and practical standpoint, this injustice matters. We feel fortunate to have had a positive role since the early days of the pandemic. But had we been part of the global public-health system, there is no doubt that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic could have been significantly mitigated, and that Taiwan could have helped even more people in need.
There is already plenty of public momentum in support of our cause, and leaders have been taking notice. A recent bipartisan bill supporting Taiwan’s participation at the WHA was signed by President Biden on May 13. Secretary of State Blinken issued a statement on May 18 to support Taiwan’s presence in the WHA. Moreover, many American politicians on both sides of the aisle have promoted Taiwan’s participation in international organizations recently.
Public health is a universal human right and should not be compromised for political purposes. As we confront the challenges of the pandemic, countries should work together to prepare for the future. There would have been no better way for the WHO to do so than by allowing Taiwan to participate as an observer at the 75th WHA, beginning on May 22, and by letting our experts participate in WHO meetings, mechanisms, and activities. Alas, today, we sit on the sidelines. It shouldn’t happen again. As the WHO draws lessons from the pandemic and strives to be a guardian of health, we call on it to meaningfully address this issue once and for all.