Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday that China has decided not to let the Taiwan region participate in this year's World Health Assembly in order to uphold the one-China principle and the sanctity and authority of relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and of the WHA.

Lin said that for some time now, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan and a few countries have been deliberately reversing historical progress by distorting and challenging UNGA Resolution 2758, attempting to undermine the one-China principle.

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"This not only challenges China's sovereignty and territorial integrity but also international justice, universal consensus and the post-World War II international order," Lin said at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

The spokesman said that China's decision has received broad-based support and understanding from the international community, which "fully shows that the one-China principle has public support and represents the prevailing trend as well as the path of righteousness".