The denial of access for Taiwan journalists to the 71st World Health Assembly May 21-26 in Geneva is strongly protested and condemned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Banning Taiwan media representatives due to political factors is a serious violation of fundamental human rights and the principle of justice for all that the U.N. seeks to embody, the MOFA said May 21.
In accordance with its constitution, the World Health Organization should protect the health and well-being of all people, safeguard freedom of the press, and staunchly defend universal access to medical information and knowledge, the ministry added.
According to the MOFA, denial of press freedom can have serious repercussions for global health security, citing media restrictions during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, 15 years ago that cost lives by impeding timely reporting on cross-border epidemic information.
The ministry called on diplomatic allies and like-minded countries to protest the exclusion of Taiwan reporters. It also urged member states and international media organizations to jointly call on the WHO to place press freedom ahead of political agendas.
This is the second year that Taiwan journalists have been denied access to the assembly by the WHO. The nation did not receive an invitation to the WHA after participating as an observer from 2009 to 2016 following 38 years of exclusion.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung is in Geneva at the head of a delegation conveying Taiwan’s deep dissatisfaction at not receiving an invitation to the WHA. His agenda includes holding talks with officials and medical experts from diplomatic allies and like-minded countries, according to the MOFA. (KWS-E)
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