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China's obstruction of Taiwan at WHA hurts cross-strait ties: Tsai

2017-05-28
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Taipei, May 27 (CNA) China's efforts to block Taiwan's participation in this year's World Health Assembly (WHA) have damaged cross-Taiwan Strait relations to some extent, President Tsai Ing-wen said Saturday.

Tsai made the comment in a meeting with Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, who returned to the Taipei earlier in the day from Geneva, where the WHA meeting is being held. Chen and a delegation went to Geneva to hold talks with representatives of participating countries on the sidelines of the WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization.

"Taiwanese people have a universal human right to participate in the WHA," Tsai said, adding that Taiwan's participation should not be affected by any political factors.

China's hegemonic opposition to Taiwan's attendance at this year's WHA meeting has damaged the future development of cross-strait relations to some extent, she said.

Meanwhile, Tsai praised the efforts of Minister Chen and his delegation to meet with representatives of participating countries in Geneva.

Although Chen and the delegation were unable to attend the WHA meeting due to China's obstruction, they held a total of 59 bilateral talks with representatives of countries and organizations on the sidelines of the WHA and organized two professional forums on public health issues.

Their goal was to inform the international community of Taiwan's ability to make substantial contributions to the global efforts on disease prevention and control.

The election of Tedros Adhanom, a former Ethiopian health minister, as the new WHO director general presents a new situation, Tsai said, expressing the hope that Taiwan would be allowed to attend the WHA again.

Taiwan first attended the WHA as an observer in 2009, a year after former President Ma Ying-jeou came to power and began pursuing 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 of the Democratic Progressive Party, who is less conciliatory toward China, came to power in May 2016. 

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