Coronavirus: WHO put nations at risk by excluding Taiwan from knowledge sharing, US report says

Had island’s experts been allowed to share their experiences, ‘governments around the world could have had more complete information on which to base their public health policies’, congressional report says

Document published amid growing calls for Taiwan to be allowed to attend the UN agency’s World Health Assembly, which starts on Monday

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Taiwan has been excluded from taking part in WHO assemblies since Tsai Ing-wen (centre) was elected president in 2016. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:37pm, 13 May 2020Updated: 6:57pm, 13 May 2020

Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Organisation (WHO) during the coronavirus pandemic endangered its citizens and undermined global information sharing, a US congressional report said, as pressure mounts for the island to be granted observer status at the health agency’s upcoming forum.

The document, published on Tuesday by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which reports to the US Congress on national security issues between Beijing and Washington, said that Beijing’s influence and pressure on the WHO had sidelined Taiwan, causing “critical delays” to health guidance on the coronavirus outbreak for the organisation’s member states.

“Had the WHO allowed Taiwan’s health experts to share information and best practices in early January, governments around the world could have had more complete information on which to base their public health policies,” the report’s author, Anastasya Lloyd-Damnjanovic, wrote.

“The WHO’s suppression of information provided by Taiwan and the delayed issuance of its own guidance undermined the national security of the very member states trusting it for authoritative public health guidance.”

The WHO has in the past rejected accusations of favouring Beijing, saying its experts recognised the “very successful response” of Taiwanese health authorities to the pandemic and had worked with them on a technical level.