The United States will send 750,000 shots to Taiwan as part of an effort to help combat the coronavirus worldwide, after Taipei rejected similar vaccine assistance from China.
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, announced in Taipei on Sunday that the US would send 750,000 doses to the island. “It was critical to the United States that Taiwan be included in the first group to receive vaccines because we recognize your urgent need and we value this partnership,” she said, accompanied by Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Delaware Sen. Chris Coons.
The United States is also planning to send vaccines to India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, Egypt, and Gaza, to name just a few.
Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who was present at the announcement, praised the US for its support and accused Beijing of causing “trouble,” which has impacted Taiwan’s ability to receive vaccines.
However, Taiwan has repeatedly refused offers of assistance from China, citing safety concerns about Chinese vaccines.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin claimed on Friday that officials from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party had “prevented the mainland from importing vaccines to Taiwan in every possible way, and even falsely claimed that the mainland was obstructing its procurement of vaccines.”
Also on rt.com Beijing urges Taipei to refrain from political manipulation and allow Taiwanese people access to Chinese Covid-19 vaccines
“Pandemic prevention is the most important thing, and life is paramount,” Wang continued, before urging Taiwan’s authorities “to put their minds on scientific epidemic prevention, remove man-made political obstacles, and ensure the lives, health, interests, and wellbeing of Taiwan compatriots.”
Japan has also provided coronavirus assistance to Taiwan, sending 1.2 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses to the island on Friday, despite criticism from China, which considered the move to be politically motivated.
“I want to emphasize that vaccine assistance should return to the original purpose of saving lives, and should not be reduced to a tool for political self-interest,” Wang said in response.
Also on rt.com Embattled Japan donates more than a million Covid-19 shots to Taiwan, doubling Taipei’s vaccine stocks
Taiwan is one of the least Covid-affected places in the world, with just 10,956 recorded cases and 224 deaths. More than 678,000 vaccine doses have been administered to the population. In contrast, the US – which is the most affected nation – has recorded more than 33 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths.
China has recorded 103,000 cases of the coronavirus and 4,846 deaths, but has administered over 763 million vaccine doses.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
hobovalentine on June 7th, 2021 at 12:27 UTC »
Japan is also sending 1.2 million doses of the astra zenica vaccines as they won't be used which is pretty insane considering how slow the pace of vaccination have been in Japan.
photofluid on June 7th, 2021 at 04:32 UTC »
Speaking of vaccine diplomacy.
jehovahs_waitress on June 7th, 2021 at 04:18 UTC »
I listened to an interview if a tech supply chain professor from Harvard recently, commenting on the chip shortage. Several countries were mentioned as being interested in setting up domestic advanced chip industries. They recognized that dependence on shaky foreign suppliers was not optimal. The prof said two countries had contacted him but he would not name names. How much wound it cost in initial investment ? His answer was “ in the order of $100 to $150 billion”, then ‘ at least $10 billion per year indefinitely ‘.
That is a very large amount, few countries could afford it.