President Tsai Ing-wen praised May 27 the team led by Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung to Geneva, stating that its efforts on the sidelines of the 70th World Health Assembly highlighted Taiwan’s indispensable role in the global disease prevention network.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) is on track to become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage after its Constitutional Court ruled May 24 that provisions of the Civil Code forbidding such an act violate the people’s freedom of marriage and rights to equality as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Representatives of Republic of China (Taiwan) diplomatic ally Burkina Faso, Australia and Germany joined a growing chorus May 22 in expressing support for Taiwan’s participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly, according to the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

DevDays Asia 2017, the largest software developer event in Asia, is being held May 23-25 at the Hua Nan Commercial Bank Convention Center in Taipei City, highlighting the latest advances in artificial intelligence, data analysis and office application development.

Taiwan should not be excluded from the World Health Assembly—the decision-making body of the World Health Organization—as it is essential for all nations to cooperate closely on global health promotion, according to Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung May 20.

“Helping these countries fight disease will enhance relations across the board,” Lin said. “But ultimately Taiwan is taking action because that’s what it should do as a responsible member of the international community.”

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei said May 16 that the U.S. government should continue fostering stronger ties with Taiwan through mechanisms such as the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) or by forming a new bilateral free and fair trade agreement.

Special thanks are due the following organizations that provided the photographs presented in this exhibit. It is to be hoped that this will prove convincing enough of an introduction to Taiwan’s contributions to global health that the world’s nations will see fit to bring Taiwan fully into the world health system.

Taiwan ranks 16th among 75 countries and territories in the first Inclusive Internet Index: Bridging Digital Divides report by London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, according to the Board of Science and Technology under the Executive Yuan May 12.