Taiwan unlikely to be observer at World Health Assembly ‘no matter how hard US tries’

Observer status would imply the island is an independent state which would be ‘totally impossible’ for Beijing to accept, analyst says
Taiwanese and American officials on Monday discussed a strategy to expand Taipei’s participation in UN system and other forums

Taiwan

Hayley WongandLaura Zhou

Published: 12:00pm, 15 Apr 2023

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Taiwan is unlikely to regain observer status at the World Health Assembly unless its ruling party changes its stance to recognise “one China” – despite US efforts to secure its participation, analysts say.

The assessment came after Taiwanese and US officials met in Washington on Monday to discuss a strategy aimed at “expanding Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations system and in other international forums”, according to the State Department.

It followed President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week – talks that prompted condemnation and military drills from Beijing, which sees the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

Monday’s meeting “focused on near-term opportunities to support Taiwan’s expanded participation” in next month’s WHA – the World Health Organization’s decision-making body – and the International Civil Aviation Organization, as well as other non-UN bodies, the statement said.

But Zhu Songling, a professor at Beijing Union University’s Institute of Taiwan Studies, said that without a cross-strait resolution, Beijing would not approve observer status for Taipei at the WHA.

Taiwan took part as an observer in the UN health agency under the name “Chinese Taipei” from 2009 to 2016, when Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang party was the island’s president. The KMT recognises the 1992 consensus – an understanding that there is only “one China” but each side has its own interpretation of what that means.

However Tsai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, does not support the one-China principle and Beijing has blocked Taipei from taking part in the WHA since 2017, after she took office. According to Beijing, the island no longer had the “political foundation” to be invited as an observer.

Washington and others have campaigned for Taipei’s participation in the WHA since then, but the island has remained excluded even when the annual meeting’s focus was the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 76th WHA will meet in Geneva, Switzerland for 10 days from May 21.

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Zhu noted that the US had always sought to “use its own ways and strategies to advocate for Taiwan’s participation”.

But Lu Xiang, an expert on US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, does not see Beijing approving Taipei’s participation, “no matter how hard the US tries”.

He said doing so “would imply that Taiwan is an independent state and that is totally impossible” for Beijing to accept.

That situation will continue for as long as the DPP is in power, according to Sean King, senior vice-president and Asia specialist at Park Strategies, a New York-based business advisory firm.

“Beijing’s decision to exclude Taiwan from the WHA is based on which party is in power on the island,” he said.

King expected US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “again forcefully speak out” and “solicit help” from allies for Taipei’s “meaningful participation” in the body.

US-China relations have been tense since McCarthy’s predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August. The situation has worsened over an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon that flew across the US and Tsai’s recent stopovers in New York and California.

On Taiwan, Beijing has repeatedly accused Washington of “interfering” in its internal affairs.

During her transit stay in New York last month, Tsai called for democratic countries to support Taiwan’s efforts to join international organisations.

Taipei was formally expelled from the United Nations in 1971, when Beijing was admitted. The island has been excluded from the system since then because of Beijing’s objection that, as part of its territory, Taiwan has no right to join international organisations.

“Such an unfair situation should not be allowed to continue,” Tsai said after accepting a global leadership award from the Hudson Institute at an event hosted by the think tank in New York, according to her office.

Most countries including the United States do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but the US supports Taipei’s membership in global organisations where “statehood is not a requirement” and its “meaningful participation” in those it cannot join.

Taiwan is a member of organisations like the World Trade Organization, Asian Development Bank and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation since they do not require members to be states.

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Sung Wen-ti, a political scientist with the Taiwan studies programme at the Australian National University, said that while it was unlikely Taipei would be granted observer status for next month’s WHA, it could be allowed to take part in affiliated expert working groups.

That could include Taiwan’s health minister or executives from its Central Epidemic Command Centre being invited to participate in an individual capacity, according to Sung.

He said Washington’s advocacy was “a way to both ensure Taiwan gets to benefit from the international technical exchanges at those international gatherings, and to provide a rallying point to enlist like-minded partners to voice support for Taiwan”.