Despite withdrawal, U.S. to continue WHA support for Taiwan: MOFA

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) The United States is expected to maintain its long-term support for Taiwan's efforts to join the World Health Organization (WHO) despite Washington's withdrawal from the international organization, a Taiwanese diplomat said Tuesday.

Jonathan Sun (孫儉元), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of International Organizations, gave the assessment during a MOFA briefing when asked if the U.S. decision to leave the WHO could affect Taiwan's cooperation with Washington in this area.

Sun said Taiwan was closely watching what U.S. will do before its official withdrawal from the WHO takes effect in January 2026, especially given that it has yet to fully fill government positions.

As of now, the new Donald Trump administration has yet to assign senior officials to head the State Department's Bureau of International Organization Affairs, which develops and implements U.S. policy at the U.N. and in other multilateral organizations, Sun said.

MOFA did take note, however, that a U.S. representative recently reiterated America's support for Taiwan's participation at the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision making body of the WHO, during a session of the WHO's Executive Board held from Feb. 3 to 11, Sun said.

A statement issued by the U.S. following a U.S.-Japan-South Korea foreign ministers meeting last month also reiterated Washington's support for Taipei's meaningful participation in international organizations, Sun said.

These showed that the U.S. government's long-held stance in this area had not changed since Trump returned to the White House, he said.

"We therefore expect U.S. support for Taiwan's WHA bid to continue," he said.

The U.S. is set to officially withdraw from the WHO in January 2026 after the United Nations body received a formal letter of withdrawal from Trump in January.

U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Jan. 24 that the withdrawal was now set in motion after Trump pledged on his first day in office to withdraw from the WHO and to put an end to future funding of the organization.

Trump has long charged WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of covering up China's responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic, while also calling the WHO "corrupt" and saying the U.S. was paying more than its fair share to the organization.

The Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, left the WHO in 1972 following a decision by U.N. members to expel the ROC and recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the only "legitimate representative of China."

Since then, Taiwan has been unable to attend the WHA even as an observer due to Chinese pressure, except from 2009 to 2016, when relations with China were warmer under Taiwan's then-Kuomintang (KMT) government and Beijing supported Taiwan's participation.

Taiwan has worked closely with its diplomatic allies and friendly nations, including U.S., Japan and European Union, every year to push its bid to join the WHA.