Taiwan says it does not need Beijing’s permission to take part in WHO’s online coronavirus meeting

Excluded from the World Health Organisation on mainland China’s objections, Taipei said it dealt directly with organisation on outbreak

Beijing and the WHO say they ensured Taiwan was kept up to date with virus developments

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Taiwan says it dealt directly with the WHO over the virus outbreak and did not need mainland China’s permission to do so. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 4:47pm, 12 Feb 2020Updated: 2:16pm, 13 Feb 2020

Taiwan’s presence at a World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting this week on the coronavirus outbreak that started in mainland China was the result of direct talks between the island and the body, and did not require Beijing’s permission, Taipei said on Wednesday.

Its exclusion from WHO membership because of Chinese objections has been an increasingly sore point for Taiwan during the outbreak. It complained that it was unable to get timely information from the WHO and accused Beijing of passing incorrect information about Taiwan’s total virus case numbers, which stand at 18. China has more than 44,000.

But in a small diplomatic breakthrough for the island – which mainland China regards as a wayward province – its health experts were this week allowed to attend an online technical meeting on the virus.

The Chinese foreign ministry said that was because Beijing gave approval for Taiwan’s participation. Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said China was trying to take credit for something it did not deserve.

“The participation of our experts at this WHO forum was an arrangement made by our government and the WHO directly. It did not need China’s approval,” Ou said.

Taiwan’s experts took part in a personal capacity to avoid political disputes, and did not give their nationality when joining the online forum, she said.