The donation underscores how geopolitics has come to impact the global vaccine rollout, as countries scramble to secure enough doses for their populations.
The containers carrying the coronavirus vaccines donated by Japanese government, are loaded to a plane before its departure for Taiwan, at Narita International Airport in Narita, east of Tokyo, Friday, June 4, 2021. Japan is donating 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan to help the island fight its latest resurgence of the COVID-19 cases, as Tokyo, despite its painfully slow vaccine rollouts at home, tries to play a greater role in global vaccination distribution.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters on Friday that Japan was responding to a Taiwanese request, and that the donation reflects “Japan’s important partnership and friendship with Taiwan.” Taiwan has signed contracts for 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 5.05 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 4.76 million doses of vaccines through COVAX, a U.N. program to distribute vaccines to low and middle-income countries. It is also pursuing the development of its own vaccines, which are currently in mid-stage testing.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung later said that BioNTech had asked Taiwan to change the word “country” in the press release announcing the deal. Taiwan agreed, but the deal still remains unfinished. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin accused Taiwan's governing party of preventing the mainland from sending vaccines to Taiwan and falsely claiming that China has hindered its procurement of vaccines.
China says its overseas assistance comes without political conditions, though it has aggressively used its economic might since Tsai came to power to try to poach Taiwan’s few remaining allies.
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