According to the agency, among the countries whose leaders the letters were sent are Canada, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committees of both houses of the U.S. Congress have sent letters to more than 50 countries asking them to support Washington’s proposal to invite Taiwan as an observer to the upcoming World Health Assembly. This was reported by Reuters on Friday, which had one of the letters at its disposal.
“As the world works to defeat the spread of COVID-19, a virus first detected in Chinese Wuhan, it has never been more important that countries give priority to health and safety over politics”, – the letter said.
Canada, Thailand, Japan, Germany, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Australia are among the countries whose leaders were sent letters, according to the agency source.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to invite Taiwan as an observer to the upcoming World Health Assembly. His appeal was echoed on Twitter by US Ambassador Kelly Kraft. China’s Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun said that such actions by the U.S. authorities are trying to divert attention from their own inadequate response to the coronavirus threat.
The regular session of the Assembly, which will be held by videoconference, will open on May 18 in Geneva. The island administration has already asked for access to WHO mechanisms.
Taiwan is not a member of WHO because of Beijing’s opposition, which indicates that the self-governing island belongs to China and prevents its access to international structures. However, from 2009 to 2016, during a period of warming relations in the government of the Guomindang Party, Taipei was allowed to attend the annual session of the World Health Assembly as an observer.