When the World Health Assembly (WHA) convenes in Geneva on Monday, it will do so for the first time in nine years without Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that also boasts some of the highest medical standards in Asia. Since 2009, Taiwan has been an official observer at this annual World Health Organization gathering, allowing it to participate in the global fight against disease. This year China has blocked its attendance over Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to publicly endorse Beijing’s view that the island and the mainland are part of a single Chinese nation. Taipei is infuriated that its exclusion could not only endanger its own 23m citizens, but create a loophole in global health security networks that, it claims, will risk lives across Asia and beyond.
