China says good communication with Taiwan on coronavirus

China told the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday that it had shared full information on coronavirus with authorities in Taiwan, where there have been 10 confirmed cases, and that channels of communication across the straits were "unblocked".

The Beijing government is sincere in resolving Taiwan's concerns on the virus and "measures taken are positive", China's delegate Li Song told the WHO's executive board in Geneva.

But Li denounced what he called Taiwan's authorities "lies and excuses" related to its inability to attend WHO meetings, where the island regarded by Beijing as a renegade province is represented by the mainland - under WHO rules.

Earlier, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that China was using "the right strategy" to combat the virus, but did not refer to the Taiwan controversy. "It is time (for the world) to prepare based on the opportunity created now, which is low spread or slow spread" abroad," Tedros said.