Beijing fuming after Taiwan joins WHO forum under the name ‘Taipei’

With the support of its allies, Taiwan was able to join a World Health Organization meeting this week on COVID-19. Under the designation of "Taipei," Taiwanese public health experts participated in the closed-door technical meeting by videoconference. Celia: A Chinese spokesman said Beijing granted permission for Taiwanese experts to attend, but only in a personal capacity. A two-day forum on the coronavirus opened Tuesday in Geneva. In his opening speech, the WHO director-general appealed for global unity against the epidemic.Tedros Adhanom GhebreyesusWHO director-generalWill the world come together to find shared answers to shared problems? This is not a meeting about politics or money. This is a meeting about science. We need your collective knowledge, insight, and experience to answer the questions we don’t have answers to.The closed-door technical meeting gathered more than 400 experts to develop a global coronavirus strategy. With the backing of allies, the U.S., and Japan, Taiwan had been given approval to join via videoconference. But Taiwan officials were tightlipped about the discussion contents.Chou Jih-hawTaiwan CDC director-generalThis WHO meeting is closed door. We also signed a confidentiality agreement, which means we cannot disclose what was discussed. We have to keep to the agreement.Taiwan had taken part under the designation of Taipei. China’s foreign ministry lodged a strong protest to the name. In a remote press briefing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang said China had given approval for Taiwan experts to join in a personal capacity, on the basis of the “One China” principle. He said the DPP had conducted “despicable” political manipulation that resulted in the experts joining under the name “Taipei.” Even in an epidemic, asserting Taiwan claims seems to still be at the top of China’s priorities.

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