Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) issued the following statement on Taiwan’s exclusion from the 2017 World Health Assembly, which began today in Geneva, Switzerland:

“Taiwan’s exclusion from this year’s World Health Assembly only hurts global health. Having responded to global health challenges with financial and technical assistance, Taiwan has much to contribute to international efforts to improve public health. That’s why it has been invited to the World Health Assembly for the past eight years. There should have been no question about its participation in this year’s event. World health should not be held hostage by Beijing.

“I applaud Secretary Tom Price for meeting with the delegation Taiwan has sent to Geneva for bilateral meetings. He showed real leadership in putting international cooperation ahead of politics.”

Note: Earlier this month, Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price urging him to meet with the delegation that Taiwan would send to Geneva on the sidelines of the 2017 World Health Assembly.

###