Taiwan has decried efforts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to block its deal with German company BioNTech for Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. The island nation also slammed the communist regime for pushing China-made vaccines. An analyst described the CCP's move to push China-made COVID-19 vaccines over other candidates as a form of "vaccine warfare."
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen condemned the mainland regime during a May 26 meeting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. According to Tsai, the Taiwanese government has "smoothly" booked orders for the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines. But she continued that Taiwan has been unable to obtain doses of the BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine, which was manufactured in partnership with Pfizer.
"We are close to completing the contract with the German factory – but due to the interference of China, we have not been able to complete it," Tsai said. The Taiwanese president's remarks was the first instance of the island nation confirming that the communist regime is blocking it from getting vaccine doses.
Meanwhile, BioNTech declined to comment on Tsai's remarks. The German firm told Reuters that it was "supportive of global vaccine supply." On the other hand, the CCP denied Taiwan's accusation that it was blocking the island nation's attempt to obtain vaccines. It even offered to provide doses of China-made vaccines as a goodwill gesture.
Additionally, Chinese state-owned drug manufacturer Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. said on May 26 that it was willing to provide Taiwan with the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. BioNTech and Fosun signed an agreement to exclusively develop and sell the mRNA vaccine in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Tsai responded that Taiwan will only buy directly from the original vaccine maker or negotiate doses through the COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccine Access) initiative. "[By] negotiating with the original manufacturer, we can obtain the original manufacturer's direct guarantee and responsibility for quality and safety – thereby avoiding legal and political risks," she said. Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary-General Lily L.W. Hsu meanwhile called China's offer to provide vaccine doses "very divisive."
Beijing trying to attack Taiwan in more ways than one – including vaccines
Speaking to the Mandarin version of The Epoch Times, strategy analyst Su Ziyun said a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan this month cut short vaccine supplies there. He added that the CCP saw this as an opportunity to launch "vaccine warfare" against the island nation. According to Su, the CCP hoped to "provoke dissatisfaction" within the country to divide its society on the issue of vaccines.
The analyst continued that the Chinese regime also aimed to interfere with Taiwan's way of solving the epidemic. Taiwan managed to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic's early days, earning the world's admiration and the regime's envy. "This kind of public opinion warfare will fail as soon as Taiwan solves the vaccine shortage," Su added.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan's channels to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses were "smooth." The mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (TAO) meanwhile said that China would not have a problem donating vaccines to Taiwan if not for "political obstacles." It furthermore added that Taipei was using excuses to block vaccine donations from the mainland. The TAO added that Beijing was "happy to see" that Fosun was willing to provide vaccines.
Many pro-Beijing politicians in Taiwan echoed the sentiment and said the Fosun/BioNTech vaccines were urgently needed. But Taiwanese Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung disagreed with the idea.
Speaking at a May 26 daily news briefing, he said that Taipei had not seen any supporting documentation about the Fosun/BioNTech vaccine. He called on the Chinese firm to provide documents before any discussions can proceed. "Bring out the official documents and we can talk about [the vaccine] again," he said. The health minister added: "What they are injecting to people there [in mainland China], we don't dare to use them."
This was not the first time the communist regime actively tried to undermine Taiwan's attempts to keep COVID-19 at bay. A week earlier, the CCP launched a disinformation campaign with the aim of "frustrating the Taiwanese people [and] deepening the conflicts among them." Legislative Yuan Spokesman Lo Ping-Cheng confirmed the campaign and said that three government departments in Beijing were behind the acts of "psychological warfare."
Lo continued during a May 19 press conference that China is actively sowing discord among the Taiwanese by insisting that vaccines from the mainland are better. He added that the CCP regime is claiming that "political barriers" put up by Taipei prevent Taiwanese from receiving China-made vaccine doses.
The spokesman ultimately warned that disinformation from the mainland is as bad as COVID-19 itself. He urged Taiwanese to be aware of the CCP's disinformation and avoid sharing and spreading false information.
Visit CommunistChina.news to read more about the Chinese regime's attacks on Taiwanese sovereignty amid the ongoing pandemic.
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