WHO staff reportedly ordered activists to take off ‘Team Taiwan’ shirt

WHO staff reportedly ordered activists to take off ‘Team Taiwan’ shirt

2026-05-19

Every year that Taiwan has been barred from the World Health Assembly due to pressure from China, activists have held protests with permission from Swiss authorities. But this year, the World Health Organization doubled down against the activists by ordering them to change out of their “Team Taiwan” t-shirts. A French resident from Taiwan tearfully recounted the encounter with WHO staff member, who she said was “really mean” and yelled at them for wearing the “Team Taiwan” shirt. It should be noted that the activists stayed in areas under local Swiss jurisdiction.

Flags in hand and chanting slogans, activists are marching the streets of Geneva, Switzerland calling for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly. For the 10th year, Taiwan has not been invited due to pressure from China. Now, it’s been revealed that World Health Organization staff tried to police the protests.

Dan Chuang
Content Creator, Troyes Bulletin
When we were gathering at the square with the “Broken Chair” statue, because we all wore “Team Taiwan” shirts, someone from the WHO wanted us to take off our shirts. Are we not an independent country?

Dan Chuang, a French resident from Taiwan, tearfully recounted the encounter with WHO staff. She said that the WHO staff wanted them to change out of their “Team Taiwan—Genève” t-shirts.

Dan Chuang
Content Creator, Troyes Bulletin
This kind of thing really catches you off guard if you’ve never experienced it. The WHO person was actually really mean. He was yelling at us. I didn’t, wouldn’t want to take off my t-shirt. I actually froze. I only became unstuck when my daughter came to me and asked me what happened, and why I was holding a stack of t-shirts. I told her that we had to change into those t-shirts. She asked me why. It was then when I started to realize that I had gotten humiliated.

The incident took place at the Place des Nations, which is administered by local authorities of Geneva. This is evident, seeing that a placard for Taiwan’s government-organized healthtech expo was placed there. The WHO staff may have overreached into Swiss jurisdiction in attempting to police what the activists wore.

Lee Kuen-cheng
Legislator (DPP)
You could get oppressed by China even in such a democratic place as Geneva. This goes to show that China’s oppression could take place anytime, anywhere.

Chen Pei-yu
Legislator (DPP)
It is truly regrettable, whether they wanted activists to remove any piece of clothing with symbols of Taiwan, or whether they tried to police any mention of Taiwan, to take away the rights of these groups to engage in dialogue with the world. Of course we do know that the CCP is more than likely behind this regrettable incident.

The incident suggests that China’s long-arm jurisdiction has now overreached into the sidelines of the WHA, which is taking place this week until May 23.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#WHA #WHO #publichealth #geneva #china

日內瓦遊行穿"Team Taiwan"聲援僑民淚訴:遭世衛逼換衣

2026-05-19

世界衛生大會(WHA)本周正式在瑞士日內瓦登場，台灣聯合國協進會與歐洲挺台健走協會，年年申請在當地舉辦挺台大遊行，沒想到就有移居法國的文字工作者，受邀參加，竟碰上世衛人員來要求脫掉身上印有台灣字樣的T恤，讓她拍片分享經歷，還數度委屈落淚。

大批台灣人手舉旗幟，走上瑞士日內瓦街頭，高呼口號，因為世界衛生大會登場，台灣卻因中國打壓，10年沒受邀。還爆出遊行明明經過合法申請，卻在集合期間又遭無理對待。

[[遊行民眾 "特魯瓦通訊"莊丹琪]]
“我們剛才在三腳椅廣場集合的時候，因為我們都穿著，我們自己TeamTaiwan的衣服，就有世衛的人過來，請我們把台灣的衣服脫掉，我們就是一個獨立的國家不是嗎?”

只因T恤印有台灣字樣，就遭世衛人員刁難，莊小姐直播越講委屈，頻頻拭淚，甚至世衛人員還拿出新的T-shirt，要參與遊行的人全都暫時換上。

[[遊行民眾 "特魯瓦通訊"莊丹琪]]
“這種事情沒有親身經驗過的時候，其實你是有一點嚇到的，因為對方其實真的蠻兇的，他就是在那邊吼叫。我根本不想把我的T恤脫下來，我其實有點呆掉，是一直到，我女兒過來問我發生什麼事，然後我為什麼要拿這些T恤，我跟她說我們要把T恤換上去，她問我為什麼?然後我才覺得，天啊我剛剛被羞辱了嗎?”

被要求脫下台灣字樣衣服的地點，在日內瓦知名的國際廣場，明明現場還有擺放我國外交部設置的醫療展大型看板，上方也有"Taiwan"，如今僑民只是穿著印有台灣的衣服，卻遭受打壓。

[[立委(民) 李坤城]]
“在日內瓦這麼民主的一個地方，都會被中國打壓，那你就知道說，中國的打壓，是隨時隨地都會發生。”

[[立委(民) 陳培瑜]]
“不管是要他們脫掉，身上的台灣標記，或者是任何不可以主張台灣在世界上有對話權利的團體，我都感到非常遺憾，當然我們也知道，這個遺憾的背後，很有可能有中共的影子。”

今年世界衛生大會，從5/18到5/23登場，中國處處打壓，依舊奧步不斷。

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