J. Michael Cole is a Taipei-based senior fellow with the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, Canada.
Once again this year, various countries will call upon the World Health Organization to allow Taiwan to participate in the annual World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body. Since 2017, Taiwan has been denied participation due to interference by China, which argues that Taiwan is part of its territory.