Taipei, May 22 (CNA) Taiwan does not agree to and will never accept China's continued use of political reasons to prevent Taiwan from participating in the world health system, the Presidential office said Monday.
Alex Huang, a spokesman from the Presidential Office, was responding to media reports that China recently sent a letter to the permanent missions of various countries in Geneva, which said "The Chinese Government has decided that Taiwan Province of China shall not participate in the 70th World Health Assembly."
Taiwan was unable to attend this year's WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), which opened in Geneva on Monday, due to China's obstruction.
Huang said the stance of the Presidential Office is that "The Republic of China is a sovereign state and Taiwan is not a province under the rule of the People's Republic of China."
"The government does not agree nor will it accept the Chinese authorities continually using political reasons to exclude 23 million Taiwanese people from the international health system," Huang said.
"Such an illicit approach will not only lose the support of the international community, but will result in the extreme hostility of all Taiwanese," he said.
The WHO is an organization that focuses on the health of everyone and does not serve the political stance of any individual country, he said.
Taiwanese should enjoy the same health rights as people everywhere else in the world and there is no reason for them to be excluded, he continued.
The cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the nation's body in charge of China policy, lodged a strong protest and expressed dissatisfaction over China's letter and its attempt to denigrate Taiwan.
The MAC, in a press release, noted that Taiwan has participated in the WHA as an observer since 2009.
Participation has been based on the concerted efforts of the government and the private sector, which have won recognition and support from the international community for Taiwan's medical care system and its contribution to the global fight against disease.
In no way was it a special arrangement by China based on the so-called "one China" principle as alleged in the letter, it added.
China's claim deviates from the truth and it is trying to mislead the world, the MAC said.
Taiwan first attended the WHA meeting as an observer in 2009, a year after former President Ma Ying-jeou came to power and pursued a more conciliatory policy toward Beijing.
Taiwan had taken part in every WHA meeting since then, until this year.
Its exclusion is widely seen as the latest move by China to clamp down on Taiwan's participation in international events, a strategy that has become more aggressive since President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, who is less conciliatory toward China, came to power in May 2016.
