FM: Attempt to play 'Taiwan card' doomed to fail

The Foreign Ministry said on Monday that China's decision of not letting its Taiwan region participate in the World Health Assembly has received wide support and understanding from the international community and any attempt to challenge the one-China principle will not succeed.

Registration for the 77th WHA will close on Monday and Taiwan has not received an invitation. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities said its absence from the assembly will cause a gap in international epidemic prevention.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin blasted the claim as a political lie, saying any attempt to play the "Taiwan card" and use Taiwan to contain China will only be met with firm opposition from the international community and is doomed to fail.

Taiwan's participation in the activities of international organizations, including the World Health Organization, must be handled under the one-China principle, a basic principle enshrined in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, Wang told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

Unless it is given approval by the central government, Taiwan has no basis, reason or right to participate in the WHA, Wang said.

The DPP authorities have refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus and stubbornly stuck to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence", which eroded the political foundation for the region's participation in the WHA, he said.

In light of this, China has decided not to agree to let Taiwan participate in this year's WHA, Wang said.

The decision has sufficient reason and solid legal basis, which is not only to uphold the one-China principle, but also to safeguard the sanctity and authority of relevant UNGA and WHA resolutions, he said.

Under the one-China principle, Taiwan's participation in global health affairs has been properly arranged, he said.

Over the past year, a total of 21 batches of 24 people from Taiwan applied to participate in technical WHO activities, all of which were approved by the central government.

There is a contact point for International Health Regulations in Taiwan, enabling the region to obtain timely information on health emergencies and report to the WHO.

"Facts have fully demonstrated that the Chinese central government has every sincerity and has taken credible and active measures to address the health issues that our compatriots in Taiwan care about, and that their rights to health are duly protected," Wang said.

Recently, the DPP authorities and certain countries have been deliberately distorting and challenging Resolution 2758, expressing support for Taiwan's participation in multilateral forums of the UN system and challenging the global consensus on the one-China principle, Wang said. Such practices that violate international law and basic norms governing international relations and turn back the wheel of history will never succeed.