Advertisement
WHO responds to agency chief’s alleged pledge to ‘strengthen ties’ with Taiwan
WHO denies change to Taiwan status quo after Japanese finance minister claims Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the comments in Tokyo
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
7
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that its position on Taiwan remained unchanged, after Japan’s finance minister claimed that the health body’s chief executive intended to strengthen ties with the island.
On December 6, Japan’s Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama stated in a social media post in Japanese that, during a visit to Tokyo, the WHO director general had “explicitly [stated] his intention to strengthen ties” with Taiwan.
The post followed a forum in Tokyo on universal health coverage organised by the Japanese government and the WHO. The event was attended by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Advertisement
In one of the photos attached to her post, Katayama was shown shaking hands with Tedros, who has been accused by some – most notably US President Donald Trump – of being biased towards Beijing.
In response to a query from the South China Morning Post about Katayama’s post, a WHO media representative said that the organisation’s relations with Taiwan would continue to follow the “status quo”.
Advertisement
“Our position hasn’t changed. Our position is that we have existing relations with Taiwanese health partners,” the representative said.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x