Scheer backs Liberals’ Taiwan push for WHO

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer backed the Liberal government’s efforts to include Taiwan in the World Health Organization discussions on COVID-19, a position that China opposes.

But Scheer also pointed out that his party has long called for Taiwan’s inclusion in organizations such as the WHO and the International Civil Aviation Organization, and their work should not be influenced by China’s foreign policy.

“These types of entities which provide guidance and services to folks on the health and safety of people around the world should not be impacted by global politics and by the foreign policy positions of the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” Scheer said Monday.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province, and while Canada does not recognize its sovereignty, the two do have trade and cultural relations.

Last week, Canada backed an international coalition that includes the United States, Japan, Australia and others, seeking to allow Taiwan to have observer status at a major WHO meeting next week.

Taiwan had early success in controlling the outbreak of the COVID-19, and Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said that Taiwan’s presence as a non-state observer in the World Health Assembly meetings next week would help the pandemic fight. The move is also politically sensitive for Canada because it is in its own dispute with China over what it calls the “arbitrary” imprisonment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.