US discusses ‘opportunities’ for Taiwan to take part in WHO meeting
- The island is excluded from most international organisations because of objections from Beijing, which views it as its own territory
- Washington says the discussions include Taipei’s possible participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly meeting next month
US and Taiwanese officials have held talks on expanding Taiwan’s international participation, including “opportunities” for the island to attend a major World Health Organization meeting next month.
The US State Department said on Friday that the meeting took place in Washington between high-level diplomats including assistant secretary for international organisation affairs Michele J. Sison and Taiwan’s de facto US ambassador Hsiao Bi-khim.
“This discussion focused on opportunities for Taiwan’s participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly in May and the possibilities for Taiwan’s participation at the International Civil Aviation Organization,” it added, referring to another United Nations body.
Taiwan attended the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s decision-making body, as an observer from 2009-2016 when Taipei-Beijing relations warmed. But Beijing blocked further participation after the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, whom Beijing views as a separatist – a charge she rejects.