The US health secretary, Alex Azar, has met Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, in the highest-level US visit in more than four decades, as China flew fighter jets into the Taiwan strait. China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and takes issue with any acknowledgement of Taiwan’s status as a sovereign state. Azar, a US cabinet member, is the most senior US official to visit Taiwan since Washington broke off official ties in 1979 to grant diplomatic recognition to Beijing. Thanking the US for its support of Taiwan’s bid to attend the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO, the president said: “Political considerations should never take precedence over the right to health. The decision to bar Taiwan from participating in the World Health Assembly is a violation of the universal rights to health.”

Source: The Guardian August 10, 2020 05:50 UTC