US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slams ‘spiteful’ Taiwan exclusion from World Health Assembly

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed the “spiteful” rejection of Taiwan to attend the World Health Organisation’s annual meeting as an observer, despite the island’s success in tackling Covid-19.

Taiwan decided to postpone efforts to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA), which started on Monday with a focus on the coronavirus pandemic, according to Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu.

Beijing has insisted that Taiwan be excluded from the platform and described the self-ruled island as its province. It added that the previous inclusion of Taiwan should not count as a precedent, as the current Taiwanese government no longer recognised the one-China principle.

“The United States condemns Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Assembly,” Pompeo said in a statement, launching an attack on WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Tedros had every legal power and precedent to include Taiwan in WHA’s proceedings,” Pompeo said. “Yet, he instead chose not to invite Taiwan under pressure from the People’s Republic of China.

“The director general’s lack of independence deprives the assembly of Taiwan’s renowned scientific expertise on pandemic disease, and further damages the WHO’s credibility and effectiveness at a time when the world needs it the most.”

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Pompeo criticised Beijing’s attempt to “silence” Taiwan as “spiteful”, adding that it showed “the emptiness of [Beijing’s] claims to want transparency and international cooperation to fight the pandemic, and makes the difference between China and Taiwan ever more stark”.