Australian politicians from both major parties have called on the World Health Organisation to give Taiwan membership, blasting the UN body's performance in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The intervention by federal MPs comes after Taiwan accused the WHO of ignoring its early warnings at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, part of what it says is a long history of sidelining it because of pressure from China.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation has been criticised by Taiwan for being too close to Beijing. Credit:AP

The bipartisan push will place pressure on the Australian government to support Taiwan's next bid for membership of the WHO. While Australia has called for Taiwan to be included in key meetings and dialogue, it does not have a position of supporting the push for membership.

The WHO has been criticised by Taiwan’s government for parroting Beijing's lines on the global pandemic, particularly in January when it repeated Chinese claims that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.