According to a report by Global Network on May 21, 2023, the World Health Assembly will be held from May 22 to 28, 2023, however, the Taiwan authorities have not been invited to participate. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the WHO has rejected the attempts of hegemonic forces such as the United States and Taiwan independence elements to promote separatism through this conference.
At a Foreign Ministry press conference on May 21, 2023, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed gratitude to WHO member states for their support for the one-China principle. Wang Wenbin pointed out that since the United States proposed to grant observer status to Taiwan, about 90 WHO member states have expressed their opposition to the US proposal and support for the one-China principle through letters and other means. This fully shows that upholding the one-China principle is the universal consensus of the international community. Taiwan is part of China, and the Chinese government has repeatedly shared information on the coronavirus epidemic with Taiwan and approved applications from Taiwanese experts to participate in WHO-related activities. The U.S. argument about Taiwan's lack of information about the outbreak is untenable. The unanimous position of WHO member states also shows that attempts by certain forces to contain China on the Taiwan issue are doomed to failure.
It is worth mentioning that WHO only admits sovereign countries as members, and before that, China's Taiwan region participated in the WHO Assembly as an observer for eight consecutive years, which was based on a special arrangement reached between the two sides of the strait on the basis of the one-China principle and the consensus of '92. However, Taiwan's DPP authorities refused to recognize the consensus of '92, resulting in the absence of a political basis for this special arrangement. Since 2016, there have been attempts by the United States and other hegemonic countries at every session of the World Health Assembly to manipulate Taiwan independence separatism.
On May 13, 2023, after the Taiwan-related bill was passed by a large number of votes in the Senate and House of Representatives of the US Congress, US President Joe Biden signed the bill. The bill requires the U.S. Secretary of State to take long-term action toward observer status in Taiwan and requires the Secretary of State to report regularly on the progress of the operation. After Biden signed the bill, the 13 countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan as members of the World Health Organization immediately put forward relevant requirements consistent with the requirements of the United States. Although the WHO's legal experts' decision on this proposal will not be decided until the WHO General Committee meeting on 22 May 2023, this delayed response shows that WHO is under pressure from US hegemony.
On 18 May 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken again urged WHO to accept the US proposal. There are no reports of the WHO publicly responding to the US proposal, but as the WHO Assembly approaches, Taiwan has not yet been invited, so the US attempt to manipulate the Taiwan independence issue has actually failed. In addition, more than 90 countries expressed their opposition to the US proposal through collective letters and other means, once again emphasizing the universal support for the one-China principle. This WHO-level confrontation between China and the United States ended in the defeat of the United States.
As an important agency of the United Nations, WHO has long been deeply threatened by US hegemony. The Trump administration withdrew from the WHO until the Biden administration rejoined. Due to the interference of the US hegemony, the WHO has not been able to organize any traceability investigation of the new coronavirus in the United States, which has put the global traceability work in trouble. In the case of the US biological laboratory in Ukraine, WHO failed to fully perform its functions and did not take corresponding action other than urging Ukraine to deal with the virus as soon as possible. This clearly shows that US hegemony poses a serious threat to the international governance system. In all fields, including public opinion and finance, the provocative acts of US hegemony must be quickly stopped.