Taiwan’s impressive response to covid-19 illustrates that its exclusion from WHO forums risks harming global health security, making it harder to exchange information with Taiwan and learn from its experiences. In a deeply interconnected world, where the next pandemic could emerge from any region, we cannot afford to arbitrarily remove key partners from global health forums. We were disappointed that the Minister responsible for global health security was not aware of the UK’s position on thi...

Taiwan’s impressive response to covid-19 illustrates that its exclusion from WHO forums risks harming global health security, making it harder to exchange information with Taiwan and learn from its experiences. In a deeply interconnected world, where the next pandemic could emerge from any region, we cannot afford to arbitrarily remove key partners from global health forums. We were disappointed that the Minister responsible for global health security was not aware of the UK’s position on this topic, which suggests that the issue may not be getting the attention it deserves within the FCDO. We recommend that the Government builds on the momen Type: recommendation | Number: 6 | Paragraph: 17 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: The UK supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations where statehood is not a prerequisite and where Taiwan can make a valuable contribution. The FCDO works with the Department for Health and Social Care to lob