Speaking Wednesday to The Associated Press, Lin pointed to a health agreement between Taiwan and China and expressed hopes to "work together for the health of the people of both sides." Taiwan's new health minister says his country hopes to work with China to help improve the health of people "on both sides of the Taiwan Strait" and engage more with the world to fight viruses like Zika, MERS, Ebola and dengue. The minister's visit comes against the backdrop of a highly charged atmosphere between China and Taiwan after independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen took office Friday. Attending an annual World Health Organization gathering, Lin Tzou-yien said Wednesday that he shook hands with his Chinese counterpart, Li Bin, a day earlier during "good meetings" at the conference in Geneva.

Source: ABC News May 25, 2016 05:56 UTC