Taiwan enjoys equal treatment as other observers in the World Health Assembly (WHA) , an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday. Hsu Lee-wen, deputy director of the MOFA's International Organizations Department, was rebutting a reported statement by the leader of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that Taiwan participated in the WHA last year as a non-governmental organization affiliated to China. The Taiwan delegation was given the same rights and opportunities as other observers to participate in WHA activities last year, said Hsu at a news conference, in response to comments attributed to DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen in a local newspaper. The Liberty Times, citing Tsai, questioned Tuesday the conditions under which Taiwan was allowed to participate in the WHA last year and called on the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou to make public its negotiation process with the assembly, which is the executive arm of the World Health Organization. But Hsu stressed that the Taiwan delegation was given the same rights and opportunities as other observers in the WHA last year. She said that Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yaung Chih-liang will lead a delegation to the WHA this year from May 17-21 in Geneva and will give a speech there. Meanwhile, Yuang stressed the importance of taking part in the annual global event and noted that last year he received the WHA invitation in his capacity as health minister. This was an indication that Taiwan was viewed as a country, he added. 'Our attendance (this year) will underscore the existence of Taiwan, and our next step is to take part in the WHA using our official title of the Republic of China,' he said. Taiwan participated in the WHA for the first time in 2009, with observer status and under the name 'Chinese Taipei,' after 12 years of failed attempts to do so. Along with the Vatican, the international Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Taiwan gained an observer status in the World Health Assembly in May last year. 