Ahead of Key WHO Meet, Taiwan Seeks India’s Support

NEW DELHI: Taiwan has donated a million surgical masks to India as it resists attempts by China to prevent it from attending a key WHO meet later this month.
Diplomatic sources said the donation was made against the backdrop of Taiwan – which is claimed by China as a part of its territory and remains excluded from UN and its subsidiary bodies – calling for India’s support for its participation in the WHO meet, World Health Assembly, which will be held in Geneva on May 18.

China doesn’t want self-ruled Taiwan to attend the meeting and said Friday that the “so-called attempts to get into the WHO and participate in the WHA are absolutely not for the health and well-being of Taiwan’s people but are through-and-through political manipulation, and will not succeed”. Taiwan though says that it’s absence from the meeting will dent the international fight against Covid-19.
With not more than 500 Covid cases, and only six deaths, Taiwan’s has been one of the most successful attempts in the world to neutralise the virus. Chinese embassy spokesperson in Delhi had said last month that as a part of China, Taiwan had no right to join WHO, which is a specialised agency of the United Nations restricted to only sovereign states.

7,740 dedicated Covid-19 facilities in 483 districts identified

A total of 7,740 dedicated Covid-19 facilities in 483 districts have been identified, the Union health ministry said. There are 6,56,769 isolation beds, 3,05,567 beds for confirmed cases, 3,51,204 for suspected cases, 99,492 oxygen-supported beds, 1,696 facilities with oxygen manifold and 34,076 ICU beds.

It is rare for India though to accept such assistance from Taiwan with which it has no formal diplomatic ties. The government had declined an offer of assistance from Taiwan even during the Kerala floods.
Of the million masks, while 50,000 were delivered to Tamil Nadu, the remaining were received by the Red Cross here. At the handing over ceremony though, no Indian government official was present.

Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre, which is the representative office of Taiwan here, said the virus recognised no national boundary or race and so assistance did not have to be limited by nations, race or gender.
“Taiwan has shown to the world that due to the preemptive preparations, the right policy implemented by the government, the trust established by the people towards the government and the lesson learned after the 2003 SARS, Taiwan has been recognised and praised greatly by international communities and countries around the world in terms of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Taiwan will be very much like to share her experiences as well as the PPE material such as masks with all the countries in need,” he said.

Source:ToI