Source: Republic of China Taiwan
June 2, 2026 No. 248 International support for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) has remained strong despite the WHO decision—in contravention of its principle of leaving no one behind—to yield to pressure from China and exclude the 23 million people of Taiwan from the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA), which concluded on May 23.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and its overseas missions made concerted efforts to maintain global backing. For this year’s WHA, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung led a Taiwan public healthcare team to Geneva to host the Taiwan Smart Medical and HealthTech Expo. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang also traveled to Switzerland for the occasion, marking the first time that Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs and minister of health and welfare jointly promoted Taiwan’s bid in Geneva.
Formed by representatives of 30 leading domestic healthcare facilities and businesses, the public healthcare team showcased Taiwan’s innovation capabilities, smart technology, and resilience and gave the international community a more comprehensive understanding of the contributions that Taiwan can make to public health.
Attracting 1,300 visitors, the expo facilitated talks between Taiwanese participants and 683 foreign buyers. The value of preliminary orders reached US$1.2 million, and US$6.71 million in other potential business opportunities were identified, making the event a great success.
In Geneva, Minister Lin interacted with delegates from allies and like-minded countries to cultivate support for Taiwan. One week before the opening of the WHA, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Baushuan Ger also visited the city, where he met with the WHA representatives of 14 diplomatic allies and friendly countries to gain their endorsement.
MOFA sincerely appreciates all the backing it has received from the international community. The 11 diplomatic allies of Taiwan that are WHO members submitted proposals and spoke up for Taiwan at the WHA. In particular, Haiti, Belize, Palau, and Paraguay engaged in two-on-two debates with China and its allies at the WHA General Committee and plenary session. Furthermore, 15 like-minded countries championed Taiwan’s bid, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Luxembourg, Sweden, Latvia, and Israel. The European Union (represented by Cyprus) also extended support.
As China and its allies continued to distort United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 at the WHA, Haiti, Palau, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Belize publicly and strongly refuted such claims, emphasizing that the resolutions had nothing to do with Taiwan and could not serve as basis for precluding Taiwan’s participation in WHO or the UN system. At the plenary session on May 22, the Japanese delegation also openly contested China’s misrepresentation of UNGA Resolution 2758.
To express staunch support for Taiwan’s participation in WHO and the WHA, the representative offices in Taiwan of nine countries—Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, and Lithuania—issued a joint statement during the WHA. Moreover, the executive and legislative branches of government of over 50 countries also advocated for Taiwan through social media, letters, and resolutions. These efforts were spearheaded by US Permanent Representative to the UN Michael Waltz; former US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley; Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard; Spanish Cochair of the Formosa Club Eloy Suárez and 39 club members; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom; and the European Parliament. Internationally renowned healthcare organizations, such as the World Medical Association and the Standing Committee of European Doctors, as well as professional medical organizations and healthcare professionals from Europe, Asia, and Latin America, submitted letters to the WHO director-general on behalf of Taiwan and issued public statements.
Meanwhile, to further aid Ukraine in public health, Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund and Malteser International, the international humanitarian relief agency of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, signed a letter of intent for cooperation during the WHA on rehabilitation and psychosocial support programs for amputees in Ukraine. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Minister Lin. Through this initiative, Taiwan will assist with training 250 healthcare professionals, including prosthetists, physical therapists, and psychotherapists in Ukraine, helping 3,000 amputees and their families with physical rehabilitation and psychological recovery and demonstrating that humanitarianism knows no borders.
A cross-party delegation of legislators comprising Liao Wei-hsiang, Kuo Yu-ching, and Chen Gau-tzu traveled to Geneva this year to demonstrate to the international community through concrete action that the Taiwan government’s WHO bid enjoyed strong backing from across the political spectrum and the public.
Furthermore, around 150 people from Taiwanese communities and student groups overseas gathered in Geneva to hold exhibitions, organize marches and parades, and participate in forums and international seminars, bolstering the government’s efforts and highlighting Taiwan’s appeal and determination to participate in WHO and the WHA.
Through the active coordination and arrangements of MOFA and its overseas missions, a total of 443 media contributions were published. These included articles by Minister Shih and overseas missions in international media outlets, interviews with heads of missions, and supportive columns and commentaries by scholars and experts. Videos for this year’s WHA bid and the Taiwan Smart Medical and HealthTech Expo received more than 429,000 views. MOFA and its overseas missions made a total of 1,695 posts in multiple languages on such social media platforms as Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and X, reaching over 1.2 million views.
This year in Geneva, Taiwan successfully adopted new approaches in its international engagement through positive, active, and creative outreach. Besides creating opportunities overseas for Taiwanese enterprises, our efforts have ensured that the international public health community was fully aware that excluding Taiwan from WHO would be detrimental to all mankind. These efforts fully exemplified the integrated diplomacy policy, encompassing the aspects of values-based diplomacy, alliance diplomacy, and economic diplomacy.
MOFA will continue to leverage cross-agency cooperation and public-private efforts to inject further momentum into Taiwan’s WHO bid. It will also work with global partners to advance the health, well-being, and the right to health of all of humanity. (E)