In recent days, Taiwan has once again emerged as a fierce confrontation between the US and China. On May 1, the US delegation at the United Nations affirmed its support for Taiwan to participate in activities at the UN and praised Taiwan for its successful anti-epidemic. Immediately, a spokesman for the Beijing delegation in New York protested furiously.
The US delegation to the United Nations on May 1 tweeted support for Taiwan joining the UN.
The Twitter account (USUN) of the US Delegation to the UN: “The United Nations was founded as a base for all voices, a forum for all diverse perspectives, motivations and human freedom. The ban on Taiwan’s entry into the United Nations is an insult not only to proud Taiwanese people but also to UN principles.”
US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft re-shared this tweet.
The tweet also quickly received nearly 4,000 shares after only a few hours of posting.
Earlier, the US Department of State also tweeted calling for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Conference (WHA) as an observer.
According to the US delegation, the UN is an international institution with 193 members built 75 years ago, on the basis of serving all voices, accepting diverse views, and promoting human rights, then supporting Taiwan to join the United Nations is obvious.
USUN also launched a pro-Taiwan movement on Twitter with the #tweetforTaiwan hastag to call for bringing the country into international organizations despite pressure from China.
USUN called: “Join us in the TweetforTaiwan movement, asking Taiwan to join the World Health Council so that Taiwan can bring their excellent expertise to the fight against COVID-19. The world needs Taiwan in this war! Tell WHO this is the time when Taiwan needs to be heard.”
USUN also noted in a tweet that the Taiwanese leader, Thai English, wrote: “China’s response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic always hides the truth, keeping scientists silent. Quiet and censored speech. Taiwan’s response is a model for the world. ”
On May 2, the Taiwan External Relations Agency also called for “like-minded friends and partners” to join the movement launched by the US.
Taiwan was knocked out of the UN in 1971 when China reached an agreement to replace Taiwan. Not only that, Taiwan is excluded from every UN agency.
Taiwan was a WHO observer from 2009-2016, until Beijing pressured to eliminate Taipei from WHO, Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Council was revoked in 2016, after Tsai Ing-wen, an independentist with Beijing, came to power in the island.
The relationship between Taiwan and the UN had been strained long before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and had worsened over the past three months. The WHO leader is accused of being close to Beijing and favoring mainland China over the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WHO has repeatedly said it has been in contact with Taiwanese experts since the outbreak began, but island authorities complained that they were denied access to important information and were excluded from the emergency meeting.
The Taiwanese leader, Tsai Ing-wen, rejected WHO’s claim to maintain regular professional exchange between them. She said 70% of requests to attend their meetings in the past 10 years were denied.
Taiwan has one of the most powerful public health systems in the world and has proven its effectiveness in combating the COVID-19 epidemic. The island recorded less than 500 COVID-19 infections, although it is close to mainland China, where disease broke out.
However, from mid-April, the relationship between Taiwan and WHO showed signs of warming when during a regular press conference in Geneva on April 17, Michael Ryan, executive director of Health Emergency Programs of the WHO, saying that “the Taiwanese government deserves praise. They have been coping very well with public health issues … And you can see that from the numbers … We praise that. We have seen a similar approach in Hong Kong and across China.”
It is rare for WHO officials to praise Taiwan’s success in preventing the disease, despite fierce controversies about the removal of the territory from the WHO mechanism.
Earlier, on April 15, the Taiwan Disease Control Center confirmed that they had discussed COVID-19 dealing with WHO officials and said that this would be a good start after many years not being permitted to attend.
China immediately protested after the US’s pro-Taiwan moves.
A spokesman for the Chinese permanent mission to the UN said that the US mission at the UN severely interfered in China’s internal affairs through open support for Taiwan to join this international agency.
The spokesman said: “On the Twitter account on May 1, the US mission at the UN openly supported the territory of Taiwan to join the UN. This is a serious violation of Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly, 3 joint announcements between China and the US, as well as China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which seriously interfered with China’s internal affairs and damaged deeply sentiment of 1.4 billion Chinese.”
Therefore, the Chinese delegation expressed indignation and strongly opposed this action.
The official stressed: “There is only one China in the world … Taiwan is the inalienable territory of China … The US mission is not in a position to speak of Taiwan territory under the UN’s guise welcomes various points of view, and the US continues to capitalize on visas to prevent or delay access by member states or civil society to UN activities. This shows hypocrisy in the American perspective.”
According to the official, China urged the US to abide by the principle of One China, three joint announcements between the two countries as well as Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly, immediately stopped supporting Taiwanese territory, politicizing and weakening international response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
At the same time, the Chinese delegation in Geneva on May 2 released a statement by Liu Yuyin on the web page refusing US writing regarding Taiwan.
This statement uses the phrase “Taiwan region“, referring to the principle of One China, consensus in 1992 and quoting the UN General Assembly resolution … showing a tough stance against Taiwan.
AFP said on May 2 that the World Health Conference (WHA) will be held in May and the Chinese delegation in Geneva refused to invite Taiwan to attend.
Hong Kong’s Eastern news website on May 3 said Liu Yuping, a spokesman for the Chinese delegation in Geneva on May 2, issued a statement, saying senior American officials “made a direct contact with the Taiwanese authorities” through the fact that US Secretary of Public Health and Services Alex Azar had a telephone conversation with Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shizhong and stated that they would strongly support “the Taiwan area” to join WHO and join the WHA.
Luu Yucheng said that the “Taiwan area” is a part of China. Participation in international organizations, including WHO activities, must be dealt with according to the “one China” principle.
She accused the Government of the Taiwanese Progressive Party in steadfastly pursuing “Taiwan independence” and did not hesitate to “plague poison” (using epidemics to pursue independence), refusing to recognize “Consensus 92” which lead to the absence of a political base for “Taiwan area” to join the WHA.
She also asked the “concerned country” to be aware of the situation, to abide by the “one China” principle and to stop using the pandemic to manipulate issues related to Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Ou Jiangan also made equally fierce statements.
She said that Taiwan and China are not interdependent, the mainland Chinese government has never ruled over Taiwan, so they have no right to represent the people of Taiwan in international organizations, only the elected government in Taiwan has the right to represent at WHO and take responsibility before the people of Taiwan.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
