Via CNBC:
Taiwan on Tuesday said it was “disappointed and angry” with the World Health Organization (WHO) for not inviting Taipei to join this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) which kicked off Monday.
Taiwan has been lobbying hard to join this year’s meeting as an observer after its success with containing the coronavirus outbreak. But it faced strong opposition from China, which claims Taiwan as its province with no right to its own diplomatic representation.
“We feel disappointed and angry about WHO’s decision of not inviting Taiwan to join this year’s WHA. We feel we have so much to share about our successful experiences in this Covid-19 outbreak response” said Yi-Chun Lo, deputy director general at Taiwan Centers for Disease Control.
On Monday, Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu said the issue of its participation would be put off until later in the year, so the assembly can focus on the coronavirus this time.
Despite its proximity to China, Taiwan has only reported 440 coronavirus cases and seven deaths so far even without a large-scale lockdown.