Representatives of Nauru and Palau accompanied the Taiwanese health minister, Chiu Wen-ta, when he lodged the protest with Gian Luca Burci, the legal counsel of the WHO. Together with Nauru and Palau, other allies of Taiwan, Gambia, Nicaragua, Swaziland and Panama were also present.
Chiu said he had also protested directly to Burci, who promised to pass the letter to Margaret Chan, the WHO Secretary-general. He cited Burci as saying that Taiwan has performed remarkably well in the past WHO sessions and he hoped to see more of Taiwan in the upcoming events.
Chiu was protesting a letter issued by the WHO secretary-general’s office in September 2010 that instructed its various agencies to use “the Taiwan province of China” whenever referring to Taiwan, which calls itself “the Republic of China.”
