A delegation of civic group members is to leave Taiwan for Geneva, Switzerland, on May 16 to promote the nation’s bid to take part in the World Health Assembly (WHA).
The WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, is scheduled to hold its annual meeting at the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva from May 20 to 28.
The government is trying to obtain an invitation to attend the meeting.
The group plans to rally in front of the Broken Chair sculpture at the headquarters, and would try to participate in the WHO’s “Walk the Talk” event, which promotes health and raises awareness about the work that the WHO and other global health agencies do, said Tseng Tsung-kai (曾琮愷), the spokesman for the delegation of about 20 people.
The delegation would also organize a carnival on the weekend before the WHA meeting to celebrate Taiwanese cuisine and culture, he said.
It is the 16th consecutive year that his delegation has visited Geneva to raise Taiwan’s visibility, Tseng added.
Taiwan first attended the WHA as an observer in 2009, a year after former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected and pursued a more conciliatory policy toward Beijing.
Taiwan took part in every WHA meeting from 2009 to 2017, when China persuaded the WHO not to invite Taiwan, in line with Beijing’s hardline stance on cross-strait relations after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016.
In 2017 and last year, Taiwan sent delegations to Geneva to protest its exclusion and meet with delegates on the sidelines of the forum.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/03/17/2003711661
