Diplomacy
Seeing red
Despite the Swiss backdrop, it will be an effort to maintain neutrality in the next bout of China vs Taiwan.
When member states of the World Health Organization gather in Geneva today for the 70th annual assembly the main order of business will be appointing a new director general. (Pakistan, Ethiopia and the UK all have candidates in the running.) However a diplomatic spat could overshadow the event. Taiwan has not received an invitation to attend as an observer – which it has been doing for nearly a decade – in what is seen as China’s latest attempt to freeze out the island from international gatherings. Ugly scenes erupted earlier this month when a Chinese delegation reacted angrily to Taiwanese representatives’ presence at a blood diamond conference in Australia. A week later Fiji shuttered its de facto embassy in Taipei. Taiwanese officials responded forcefully with a rare declaration of sovereignty and a delegation has still been sent to Geneva. Staying neutral in this David and Goliath battle could prove difficult – even in Switzerland.