The 75th World Health Assembly opened in Geneva today. As has been the case in previous years, Taiwan still didn''t get an invite this year. Despite this, deputy health minister Lee Li-feng led a cross-party delegation to the Swiss city. She met with representatives of Taiwan''s allied nations as well as Taiwanese expats. In a video, President Tsai thanked those who voiced support for Taiwan and stressed that Taiwan as an active contributor in the fields of global public health and medicine, should not be excluded from the world health body.

Deputy health minister Lee Li-feng gets ready to board a plane bound for Geneva. Her mission: to direct the attention of the international community to the health and well-being of Taiwan’s entire citizenry.

FTV’s exclusive footage shows the plane has now arrived in Geneva. Including a transfer in Amsterdam, the whole trip took 18 hours.

Lee Li-feng
Deputy health minister
We mustn’t be absent. We must express to the international community our determination to participate in the World Health Organization and the World Health Assembly, so we will definitely continue to work hard until the last minute.

Responding to Taiwanese expats who have come to Geneva to support Taiwan, Lee played a video that President Tsai had recorded to thank them for their speaking up for their motherland.

Tsai Ying-wen
President
Taiwan is absolutely capable of participating in the global epidemic prevention system and is willing to contribute. Over the past two years, Taiwan has donated masks to more than 80 countries through public and private cooperation, fully demonstrating that Taiwan can help. The integrity of the global epidemic prevention system should not fail owing to the political interference of a single country. The U.S., Japan, more than 40 countries and the EU have all expressed their support for Taiwan''s participation in the WHA in multiple ways.

At a banquet for diplomats, deputy minister Lee shared with friends of Taiwan what her country has been doing. In turn, Taiwan’s allies voiced their support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA.

St. Clair Prince
Health minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Taiwan is a very important part of the wheel that turns with respect to health care globally, and we ought not to exclude them.

As Taiwan’s allies step up one after another to speak on Taiwan’s behalf, the world is able to see that Taiwan can help.