Q: Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi recently claimed that the WHO should let Taiwan join the organization as an observer. What is your comment on this?

A: The WHO is an international organization and only sovereign states are entitled to join it. Taiwan, as a province of China, is not qualified to participate in the WHO in any capacity. No country or individual has the right to invite Taiwan to participate in the WHO as an observer.

China has made representations for several times to Japan through diplomatic channels. Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who has just returned from a trip to Japan, has stated the solemn position of the Chinese Government to the Japanese Foreign Minister. He called on Japan to adhere to the one-China policy and preserve the political basis for Sino-Japanese relations.