President Tsai meets members of Taiwan's WHA action team
Meeting on the afternoon of May 27 with members of the team dispatched by Taiwan to be in Geneva during the recent World Health Assembly (WHA), President Tsai Ing-wen praised the group—the WHA action team—for successfully enabling the world to understand the fact that Taiwan is capable of making substantive contributions to worldwide health and safety, and is an indispensable part of the global disease prevention network.
In remarks, President Tsai first noted that, although Taiwan was unable to formally take part in this year's WHA due to pressure exerted by mainland China, the people of Taiwan have nevertheless seen the outstanding performance of the WHA action team, for which the president extended her deepest gratitude.
President Tsai pointed out that the WHA action team on this trip to Geneva conducted 59 bilateral talks with international bodies and other countries, and held forums to engage in public health exchanges with other countries. The president thanked 14 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies for speaking out in support of Taiwan during the WHA proceedings. During a WHA debate session that was streamed live on the Internet, for example, Palau as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines both called attention to Taiwan's positions. In addition, many major powers—including the US, Japan, and Germany—expressed support for Taiwan. All of these things represent successes that the WHA action team achieved with the help of the government and people of Taiwan.
President Tsai stressed that we have successfully enabled the world to understand the fact that Taiwan is capable of making substantive contributions to worldwide health and safety, and is an indispensable part of the global disease prevention network. The people of Taiwan have a human right to take part in the WHA, and this right should not be subject to political interference. The Chinese mainland, through its unreasonable suppression of Taiwan, has to some extent damaged cross-strait relations, she said.
President Tsai reiterated that the authorities in Beijing should correctly interpret the significance of last year's elections. We are entering upon a new age, and in this new age the leaders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait need to work together for cross-strait peace and prosperity. This would be our common new issue. Taiwan's commitment remains unchanged, and its goodwill remains unchanged, but we will neither bow to pressure nor revert to the old path of confrontation. The trip to Geneva by the WHA action team is an excellent demonstration of how Taiwan will not bow to pressure.
The president pointed out that the colleagues who worked so hard recently on the front lines in Geneva enjoy strong support back home in Taiwan. Staff at the Ministry of Health and Welfare stayed in constant contact with Geneva to fact-check information, prepare clear news releases, and use social media to inform the people of Taiwan about the breakthroughs achieved by the team in Geneva each day. The president stated that she closely followed the Facebook pages of the team members and shared a lot of their posts. They did a really good job, said the president, who pointed to the public relations work of the action team as a model that government agencies would do well to emulate.
President Tsai further stated that public-spirited non-government organizations are all valuable teammates of the government. In addition to non-government advocacy groups, medical students in Taiwan established the 70th WHA Taiwan Healthcare Students' Delegation, and other groups from the medical and pharmaceutical fields also organized to offer their support, for which the president offered her sincerest gratitude.
President Tsai specially thanked the head of the delegation, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), for doing his level best to overcome difficulties. The minister was an outspoken advocate for the health rights of the people of Taiwan, and he enabled the world to clearly understand the unfair treatment that Taiwan has experienced. In addition, all relevant central government agencies—particularly frontline agencies such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Taiwan's overseas representations—have worked very hard, said the president, who expressed confidence that everyone in Taiwan is well aware of their contributions.
And finally, noting that the World Health Organization has elected a new director-general this year, the president expressed hope that her visitors would take advantage of opportunities afforded by the new situation. Thanks to the efforts made in connection with this year's WHA, the international community has come to be very sympathetic toward Taiwan's position, and what has been achieved this year will redound to Taiwan's advantage in its future efforts to participate in the international community. The president stated her hope that Taiwan in the future can join hands with its diplomatic allies throughout the world to work together for global health and safety.
Following the conclusion of her remarks, the action team asked the president to sign the team flag. Among those present were Secretary-General to the President Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Minister of Foreign Affairs David T. Lee (李大維), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Paul Wen-liang Chang (章文樑), and Deputy Minister of Mainland Affairs Lin Cheng-Yi (林正義).