MOFA thanks EP and German lawmakers for backing Taiwan’s WHO bid

2020/04/14

Support from 127 cross-party members of the European and German parliaments for Taiwan’s inclusion in the activities, mechanisms and meetings of the World Health Organization is sincerely appreciated by the government and people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said April 11.
 
 A total of 67 members of the European parliament signed a petition April 8 addressed to Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, while 60 lawmakers of the German parliament sent a letter April 2 to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
 
 In the letters the parliamentarians praised the Taiwan Model of combating coronavirus, stressed the importance of global cooperation and said Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO because of political considerations amounts to discrimination against its people.
 
 They strongly urged the WHO to invite Taiwan to participate in the upcoming World Health Assembly and help realize the U.N. organization’s goals of Health For All and Leave No One Behind.
 
 According to the MOFA, the lawmakers’ persuasive arguments stand in sharp contrast to the remarks made by Dr. Tedros during a news conference April 8 in Geneva at which he claimed to have been subject to a coordinated campaign of racially motivated abuse orchestrated by Taiwan for the past three months.
 
 Dr. Tedros should adopt a professional and neutral position that recognizes the needs of Taiwan’s 23 million people, the ministry added.
 
 The MEPs responsible for organizing the European Parliament letter were Ivan Stefanec from Slovakia of the European People’s Party, with co-signees including Andrey Kovatchev from Bulgaria, also of the EPP, and Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar from Spain of the Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
 
 The letter from the German parliament was initiated by Anita Schafer, chairperson of the German-Chinese Association-Friends of Taiwan, and jointly signed by Klaus-Peter Willsch, chairman of the German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, among others.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)