A majority of the Danish parliament, not including the government, has proposed that Taiwan should be allowed to return to the WHO despite strong Chinese opposition.
According to Jyllands-Posten, Danish newspaper, the proposal stipulates that Denmark should join other countries such as the UK and USA in supporting Taiwan’s re-entry as an observer in the World Health Assembly, WHO’s the decision-making body.
Taiwan previously took up a seat there but was thrown out in 2016 by China. China maintains that Taiwan is a part of China and not an independent state.
The Chinese embassy informs Jyllands-Posten in writing that Taiwan is manipulating and seeking independence, and that the Danish parliament has no right to interfere in the matter. The Embassy states that they strongly oppose any action by any power that is against the one-China principle and that interferes with China’s internal affairs.
Michael Aastrup Jensen, the foreign affairs spokesperson for Radikale says that Taiwan has attained beneficial results in fighting the pandemic and he doesn’t see any reason why they shouldn’t participate in the WHO, as they did before. He furthermore explains that it is necessary to draw the line now, as China is more and more aggressive in bullying smaller nations.
The Danish government has made it clear so far that they support Taiwan to be reinstated in WHO but Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as an independent nation.
Taiwan’s Representative Office in Copenhagen believes that the WHO must recognize that Taiwan does not belong to China.
Source: NordJyske
