World Health Assembly rejects Taiwan-related proposal for 10th consecutive year

The 79th World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday decided not to include in its agenda a so-called proposal on Taiwan's participation in the annual assembly as an observer.

This marks the 10th consecutive year that the WHA has rejected such a Taiwan-related proposal.

Addressing the assembly, Jia Guide, China's permanent representative and ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, reiterated that there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.

Jia said that the issue regarding the Taiwan region's participation in the WHA must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle as affirmed by the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and the WHA Resolution 25.1.

Jia said that due to the stubborn adherence to the persistent separatist stance of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, the political foundation for the Taiwan region to participate in the WHA no longer exists.

Prior to the opening of this year's WHA, the overwhelming majority of countries in the international community have reiterated to China their firm support for the one-China principle and their opposition to Taiwan's participation in the WHA, Jia noted.

Jia emphasized that the so-called claim of a "gap in the international epidemic prevention system" is sheer nonsense.

China's central government has always attached great importance to the well-being of Taiwan compatriots and has made proper arrangements for the Taiwan region's participation in technical activities of the WHO on the premise of adhering to the one-China principle, he added.

Jia said the Taiwan-related proposal severely violates the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

In order to pursue their own political interests, the separatist forces in the Taiwan region have instigated certain countries to put forward the Taiwan-related proposal to engage in Taiwan secessionist activities at the WHA, Jia said.

Such acts are doomed to gain no support and will inevitably end in failure, he added.

World Health Assembly rejects Taiwan-related proposal for 10th consecutive year

Iran said on Wednesday it had struck several military bases of the United States in the region in retaliation for the latest wave of U.S. attacks on Iran, further straining the ceasefire after Iran and Israel traded missile attacks in a recent major escalation.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that it launched a drone attack on the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain in response to the U.S. attacks on southern Iran, adding that it downed a U.S. MQ-9 drone in Iran's Bushehr Province.

The IRGC said it also targeted Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait with drones, as well as four sites at the U.S. al-Azraq base in Jordan using long-range missiles, Iranian media reported.

"In the event of continued hostility, heavier responses are on the way," the IRGC said in a statement.

The U.S. strikes began at 17:00 ET (2100 GMT) Tuesday, according to the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

The command said it struck Iranian air defense, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the strait with munitions from the U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter jets.

A series of explosions was reported early Wednesday in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, as well as Qeshm Island and Sirik County, triggering the activation of air defenses, the state-run IRIB news agency said, citing sources.

Meanwhile, the IRGC said that U.S. forces attacked several locations in Jask, Sirik and Qeshm, damaging a telecommunications mast and destroying two water tanks in Sirik.

Hours later, the command said it had completed strikes against Iran, which was confirmed by the IRIB.

The latest wave of U.S. attacks came after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Tehran had shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, vowing "very strong, very powerful" response.

However, the IRIB news agency quoted a military source as saying that "no offensive aerial military operation was carried out" over the Strait of Hormuz within the past 24 hours.

Iran strikes US bases in response to attacks