Berita 24 English - The offer to send China-made COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan was met with anger in Taipei. It was called a "strings at...
Berita 24 English - The offer to send China-made COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan was met with anger in Taipei. It was called a "strings attached" proposal by Washington, which claimed that American vaccines don't have such conditions attached.
Worst-case scenario: China and Chinese-claimed Taiwan have repeatedly squabbled during the outbreak.
In the first instance, Taipei has accused Beijing of spreading fake news and limiting Taipei's access to the WHO. In the second instance, Taipei is attempting to exploit the disease pandemic for political advantage.
Less than 700,000 vaccines have been given to more than 23 million people in Taiwan since the pandemic started, and the government is now dealing with a significant rise in COVID-19 cases.
Beijing has said it is very concerned about the current "epidemic" in Taiwan, and it has offered assistance to the island several times in the past.
It's also been reported that certain groups and people in Taiwan have been urging the government to buy Chinese vaccines.
To all our Taiwan compatriots, we want to make arrangements quickly so that you can have the vaccines available on the mainland as soon as possible.
"To augment our epidemic prevention and control efforts, we are also willing to make an extra effort to offer expertise in these areas to Taiwan's medical and health professionals.
obstacles
However, in response, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that claimed that China had failed to use any of the existing channels between the two to provide information about the vaccines and insinuated that Beijing was responsible for the supply difficulties in Taiwan.
A spokesperson for Taiwan's government stated that "Whenever Taiwan's epidemic reaches a fever pitch, China admonishes our government for obstructing the import of mainland vaccines," reported Reuters.
"While everyone knows about the obstacles Taiwan faces to procure vaccines, the other side is aware of them as well. It is pointless to continue speaking."
The country of Taiwan has repeated that it has no faith in Chinese vaccines and has reacted to what it believes are Chinese efforts to limit its access to the WHO, which opened on Monday.
A senior administration official with the U.S. State Department confirmed that Taiwan and the United States are close partners on COVID-19 and also said that the United States would donate over 80 million doses by the end of June, more than either China or Russia.
Importantly, our shipments don't include strings attached, the official stated.
We are committed to increasing access to vaccines worldwide and taking the lead in designing a new global vaccine strategy because it is the moral thing to do.
To expand their countries' geopolitical influence, China, Russia, and the United States have used so-called "vaccine diplomacy". However, the Chinese government has denied that the shots are used for that purpose.
China views the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan and its leader, Tsai Ing-wen, as political separatists who formally proclaim the breakaway state of Taiwan.
While Taipei battles increased COVID-19 cases, China has no right to speak for Taiwan and has repudiated it for military activities near the island over the past year, Tsai said.
