Taiwan Fumes After WHO Lists Self-Ruled Island as 'Taiwan, China', 'Taipei' And 'Taipei and its environs' in Coronavirus Report
Taiwan, is classified as a part of China by the United Nations, the island maintains it is not and has never been part of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Taipei, February 7: Taiwan has hit out at the World Health Organisation (WHO) for mislabeling the island as a part of China. Taiwan, is classified as a part of China by the United Nations, the island maintains it is not and has never been part of the People's Republic of China (PRC). In a report about the coronavirus outbreak, the WHO had first referred to Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" and then as "Taipei". In its latest report published on February 5, the UN agency listed Taiwan as "Taipei and its environs". Coronavirus Outbreak in China: Death Toll Rises to 638, Number of Infected People Reaches 31,100.
Reacting to WHO's labels, Taiwan's foreign ministry tweeted: "@WHO
, what's wrong with you? First you called us "Taiwan, China," then you changed to "Taipei." You misreported the confirmed cases, & now you call us "Taipei & Environs." Look! Taiwan is #Taiwan & not any part of the #PRC. JW (sic)." China deems self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that it has vowed to reunite with the mainland even if it has to resort to force. Coronavirus: China Seeking Court Approval to Kill 20,000 2019-nCoV-Infected Patients to Prevent Further Spread? Know Truth Behind Viral News.
WHO Lists Taiwan as Part of China:
Taiwan Slams WHO For Mislabeling Them:
The controversy comes at a time when Taiwan and China are engaged in a war of words over the island's exclusion from the WHO. Taiwan is not a member of the WHO due to China's opposition. On Monday, China informed the WHO that it had shared full information about the coronavirus with Taiwan, and that outbreak communication had been "smooth" between the two sides. Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou, however, dismissed the claim.
"Although the virus is really serious, they are still using the 'one China' principle to impede Taiwan from taking part in the WHO's technical meetings," Ou was quoted by New York Times as saying. "Disease has no national boundaries. Putting political considerations over people's health and safety, this, basically, is extremely vile," she added.
In another area of tension between Taiwan and the WHO, island's Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung said that they had lodged a protest with the UN agency for listing on its website a total of 13 cases for the island. Taiwan has reported 11 cases of the virus.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 07, 2020 01:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).