WHO denies ignoring Taiwan, as US criticizes COVID-19 responseBy Sam Garcia / Staff writer, with CNAUS Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill last week said that the WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, as part of justification for the US withdrawing from the global health body. In a post on X on Friday last week, Taiwan time, O’Neill said that the WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist. Taiwan had already detected an unknown virus emerging in China and asked whether Japan had any relevant information, he said. Many of Japan’s COVID-19 response measures relied on key information provided by Taiwan, which played an important role in Japan’s assessments and decision-making, Iwasaki said. Taiwan has helped Japan tremendously, but Japan has never properly reciprocated, he said, adding that he hopes to promote more tangible cooperation between the two nations.

Source: Taipei Times January 26, 2026 05:09 UTC