Taiwan authority's attempt to use epidemic to seek 'independence' will never succeed: mainland

BEIJING - The attempt by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority to use the novel coronavirus outbreak as an excuse to seek "Taiwan independence" will never succeed, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office said Thursday.

While all Chinese people are engaged in the fight against the virus outbreak, the DPP authority and separatist elements advocating "Taiwan independence" have been taking advantage of the epidemic to call on the World Health Organization (WHO) to allow the island to participate in relevant WHO activities in an attempt to fish in troubled waters and expand the island's so-called "international space," the office said in a statement.

Taiwan is a part of China, and the one-China principle represents a general consensus of the international community as well as a generally recognized norm in international relations, which cannot be challenged and trampled, said the office.

It added that Taiwan has no right to join the WHO, a specialized agency of the United Nations consisting of sovereign states, according to relevant resolutions and regulations of the UN General Assembly and the WHO.

On the premise of the one-China principle, the mainland has made proper arrangements for Taiwan to take part in global health cooperation, it added.

"There is no barrier hindering technical cooperation between China's Taiwan and the WHO," the office said, noting that health experts in Taiwan can participate in WHO technical activities in an appropriate capacity.

Taiwan experts of at least 11 person-times attended technical meetings held by the WHO on 10 different occasions in 2019, according to the statement.

The mainland has kept Taiwan updated since the beginning of the epidemic and arranged Taiwan experts to visit Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, it added.

In face of these facts, the DPP authority fools nobody, and only expose its evil intentions to fool the public, and take advantage of the situation to seek selfish political agendas, according to the statement.

"We will continue to make arrangements for Taiwan to obtain information on the prevention and control of the epidemic as part of China, but we will never allow Taiwan to use it as an opportunity to seek 'Taiwan independence,'" it read.

The office advised the DPP authority to immediately stop their political calculations and manipulations on Taiwan-related questions involving the WHO.