China says it did not agree to Taiwan attending WHO annual assembly

BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - China decided not to agree to Taiwan's participation at this year's annual assembly of the World Health Organization, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Taiwan, without the consent of the "central government", does not have any grounds or right to participate in the assembly, Lin Jian, spokesperson at the Chinese ministry, said at a regular news conference.

Taiwan is excluded from most international organisations because of objections by China, which considers the democratically governed island its territory. In some years, Taiwan had attended the WHO's World Health Assembly as an observer.