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Nobody cares more about the Taiwanese people than China, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, May 10, in a regular press conference.
China: "No one cares more" about Taiwan than us
The ministry's spokesperson, Hua Chunying, was responding to a question from Beijing Youth Daily on the U.S. and other G7 members' call for Taiwan to be included in meetings held by the World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the World Health Organization's (WHO) decision-making body.
Hua said the U.S. is "pushing the narrative" that excluding the self-ruled island from the WHA will be "detrimental to efforts to prevent future health crises", which is "nothing but a political lie".
"As a matter of fact, no one cares more about the health and welfare of our compatriots in Taiwan than us," she continued.
Hua then raised several instances of China relaying updates and information to Taiwan, such as allowing health experts from Taiwan to visit Wuhan before anyone else to "see the situation on the ground".
China urges U.S. to stop hyping Taiwan issue
She further reiterated that the Taiwan issue is one of China's core interests, where there is "not a single inch for compromise", and urged the U.S. to "stop hyping up Taiwan-related issues", which will be "firmly rejected by the vast majority of members of the international community".
Beijing is opposed to Taipei's participation in international organisations and forums, viewing it as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the mainland by force if necessary.
Taiwan says China is telling "shameless lies"
Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Ministry has rejected China's claims, calling them "shameless lies", and adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) "can't tell the truth".
Foreign Minister Joseph Wu further said "no sane person would believe" that China would take care of Taiwan's health needs after what it has done to Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.
He added that the CCP cannot speak for Taiwan as it "never ruled the country for a single day", and that only "the freely elected government represents Taiwan's people".
Taiwan says it'll fight to the end to take part in virtual WHA
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said on Tuesday, May 11, that they had yet to be invited to the WHA, even though the deadline for online registration for the meeting was Monday, according to Focus Taiwan.
However, she said Taiwan will "fight to the last minute and do everything possible for [their] right to participate in the meeting".
The virtual meeting is set to be held from May 24 to June 1.
She also noted that this is the fifth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded from the health conference.
WHO's principal legal officer Steve Solomon said on a Monday (May 10) news briefing that the WHO cooperates with Taiwan's technical experts on Covid-19, but it's up to members whether to invite Taiwan to observe the WHO meeting, Reuters reported.
Diplomats said China could easily influence other countries to continue blocking Taiwan from participating in the WHA and other WHO-related events.
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Top image adapted via China MFA & Taiwan MOFA