Logo of World Health Organization

Jaushieh Joseph Wu, leader of Taiwan's external affairs authority, tweeted Thursday attacking the World Health Organization (WHO), saying "What's wrong with you?" The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority got so exasperated simply because WHO has adhered to its principles.

While the Chinese people are going all out to fight the epidemic, the DPP authority and Taiwan independence forces are taking it as an opportunity to push the island's participation in WHO and expand its so-called diplomatic space. These are all efforts to push for Taiwan independence.

Both sides across the Taiwan Straits are at a peak period of the epidemic. But the DPP authority has put aside the extremely urgent epidemic situation and started playing political tricks. It is thus clear that the well-being of Taiwan people means nothing to them. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council on Thursday warned the DPP authority that exploiting the epidemic to seek "Taiwan independence" is doomed to fail.

The DPP authority has always been good at acting. Their excuse this time is that the island of Taiwan was prevented from receiving timely information about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. But WHO told the Global Times that the organization has always maintained communications with the Taiwan authority through channels stipulated by the International Health Regulations ever since the outbreak, and experts from the island have fully engaged in all the consultations. What the WHO had said was a real slap on the face of Taiwan authorities.

According to another source, the Chinese mainland has also repeatedly informed Taiwan of the latest information on the epidemic situation in a timely manner and has arranged site inspections for Taiwan experts to visit Wuhan in January.

Although the lie had been exposed, the DPP authorities did not feel ashamed. Instead, they turned outraged and pointed an accusing finger at the WHO. This is really bizarre!

As a matter of fact, the obstacles the DPP is confronting on the path of participating in WHO activities are built by the DPP itself. The WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations and only sovereign states can obtain its membership. When it comes to Taiwan's participation in any international organization, relevant issues must be resolved under the one-China principle. 

From 2009 to 2016, Taiwan participated in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer in the name of "Chinese Taipei," thanks to cross-Straits consultations based on mutually adhering to the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle. However, after the DPP came into office in May 2016, it has been refusing to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus. Because of this, the DPP shut itself out of the WHO. 

It is a matter of principle. That being said, the DPP can hardly make any breakthrough via despicable means. 

The epidemic situation on the island of Taiwan is pressing and the DPP's unwise response to it has heightened the tension. On January 24, DPP authorities announced a ban on the island's export of masks. But right now, Taiwan is running out of masks. Some police cannot even be allocated one mask every day. Yet certain DPP city council members gave away thousands of masks for free as a tactic to win more votes. This made us breathless with anxiety for our compatriots in Taiwan while sparing no effort to fight the epidemic ourselves.

We advise the DPP authority: The epidemic is a life-and-death matter which cannot afford any mistakes. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and the people of Taiwan are our compatriots. We will never allow the DPP authority to bring disaster to the Taiwan people.