What does US leaving the WHO mean for Taiwan’s campaign to rejoin?

Taipei had been counting on Washington’s support for it to take part in the World Health Assembly

The island says it’s not giving up, but Donald Trump’s move puts Taiwan in a difficult position

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The US will leave the World Health Organisation in July next year. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 11 Jul 2020Updated: 10:26pm, 11 Jul 2020

As the US begins the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organisation, it raises a big question for Taiwan: where does this leave its bid to rejoin the WHO’s decision-making body?

Washington’s support has been crucial in Taipei’s push to take part in the World Health Assembly, something Beijing – which sees Taiwan as part of its territory – has blocked since the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took power in 2016.

For now, the self-ruled island says it is not giving up.

Taipei was ousted from the WHO, a UN body, in 1972 – a year after it was expelled from the United Nations when Beijing joined. After a long campaign, it rejoined as a WHA observer in 2009, helped by Kuomintang president Ma Ying-jeou’s policy of engaging with Beijing.

But that status was revoked four years ago, when Tsai Ing-wen took office and refused to accept the one-China principle. Since then, Beijing – which is influential in the WHO – has maintained that Taipei can only take part with its consent. And as tensions mount across the Taiwan Strait, that consent has not been forthcoming.

Taipei’s status as a WHA observer was revoked in 2016, when Tsai Ing-wen became president and refused to accept the one-China principle. Photo: EPA-EFE