Taiwan says it did not receive WHO meeting invite, issue off the table for now

Despite strong efforts Taiwan did not get invited to this week's meeting of a key World Health Organization (WHO) body due to Chinese pressure, its foreign minister said on Monday, adding they had agreed to put the issue off until later this year. The decision drew prompt condemnation from the United States, which has been blaming China for covering up the early days of coronavirus outbreak and for refusing to share data about the virus with the rest of the world. Non-WHO member Taiwan had been lobbying to take part in a meeting later on Monday of WHO's decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, saying that to lock it out was to create a gap in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.