Japan''s public broadcaster NHK on Wednesday asked WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to answer recent criticism over the WHO''s exclusion of Taiwan and its handling of Taiwan''s early coronavirus warning. Notably, Dr Tedros chose not to respond to the question, leaving the mic to other officials at the daily press briefing.NHK reporterDr. Tedros, the U.S. Department of State says early information by Taiwan on isolated treatment in Wuhan was withheld from the global community by the WHO. They also criticized the WHO for choosing politics over global health, how do you respond?A reporter for Japan’s NHK directed a question at Tedros on the touchy subject of Taiwan. But the WHO director-general did not answer, letting a colleague speak instead.Michael RyanWHO Health Emergencies ProgrammeMultiple sources of reports on the 31st of December regarding a cluster of cases of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan, China. In fact they emanated from a press release or a publication on the website of the Wuhan health authority. WHO, then, who moved to formally verify that signal through our country office with the health authorities in China.The executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme said Chinese authorities had disclosed early information on the epidemic. He said it was that, and not Taiwanese reports, that prompted the WHO to look into the matter. Despite rising support from countries for Taiwan to join the organization, the WHO said it would continue adhering to the “one China” principle.Steven Alan SolomonWHO principal legal officerIn 1971 the countries of the United Nations decided to recognize the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate representative of China. In 1972, the member states of the World Health Organization decided in Resolution 25.1 to do the same thing. So we are in the hands of countries on these issues. WHO staff doesn’t have the mandate or power to change that.The legal officer said the Taiwan’s participation in the WHO came down to the 194 U.N. member states. Taiwan, as the R.O.C., had been one of the founding members of the WHO in 1948.Maria Van KerkhoveWHO Health Emergencies ProgrammeI had the opportunity to brief scientists and public health professionals from Taiwan and it’s always a wonderful opportunity to exchange with front-line workers involved with this pandemic, to learn from them.One after the other, the WHO officials weighed in on NHK’s question. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to their comments in a statement on Thursday. The ministry condemned their remarks, saying that the WHO secretariat had misquoted the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and the World Health Assembly Resolution 25.1. The ministry stressed that the resolutions did not authorize the People’s Republic of China to represent Taiwan in U.N. bodies. It added that only Taiwan’s democratically elected administration had the right to represent Taiwan’s 23 million inhabitants on the international stage.