China’s state-run Global Times on Thursday hectored the United States for supposedly being more interested in selling weapons to Taiwan than life-saving coronavirus vaccines, even as Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen accused China of sabotaging a deal that would have brought Pfizer’s vaccine to her country.
The Global Times accused U.S. officials of downplaying the severity of Taiwan’s current coronavirus outbreak, which included 6,091 cases and 46 deaths as of Thursday, to deflect criticism for selfishly hoarding its vaccines instead of meeting Taiwan’s needs.
The Chinese Communist paper prodded the Taiwanese to feel bitter that America is happy to sell them weapons, but not medicine:
Fewer than 1 percent of Taiwan’s residents have been vaccinated, making it the least vaccinated population in Asia, according to data gathered by The New York Times. However, the US has stocked a large number of COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] vaccines and restricted the export of vaccine raw materials. These acts fully reflect the “America First” policy. According to a report published by a team of Duke University health experts, the US could have 300 million excess doses of the COVID-19 vaccines by the end of July.
In 2020 alone, the US sold $5.1 billion in arms to the island of Taiwan, according to Reuters. The Trump administration authorized more than $15 billion in its 11 cases of arms sales to Taiwan. The US’ enthusiasm for offering COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan is far less than its enthusiasm for selling weapons to Taiwan.
Yet some people in Taiwan have not seen this clearly, stubbornly looking forward to the US’ assistance. Although the Chinese mainland had offered twice within one week to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, the Taiwan-based Mainland Affairs Council let politics in and claimed that the mainland was pretending to be well-intentioned.
“Some Taiwan people always have a wishful thinking that the U.S. will do everything to protect the island’s interests and security. They must realize that as Taiwan authorities are clinging to Washington’s China policy, the U.S. has regarded Taiwan only as a prominent pawn in its strategy to contain the Chinese mainland,” the Global Times sneered.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday blamed China for scuttling a deal that would have procured the Pfizer vaccine from BioNTech, Pfizer’s German partner.
“We had almost completed the contract-signing with the German manufacturer at one point but it has been delayed till now because China has interfered,” Tsai said, explicitly leveling the charge after months of Taiwanese officials vaguely complaining that China was meddling in their efforts to procure coronavirus vaccines.
Tsai did not specify exactly how China blocked the deal, but the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) noted Pfizer-BioNTech’s distributor for China and the surrounding region is Fosun Pharma, a company based in Shanghai.
“Only by purchasing from the original manufacturer can we obtain direct guarantee in quality and safety to avoid legal and political double risks,” Tsai said Wednesday, implying the Chinese are insisting Taiwan buy from Fosun when the Taiwanese want to buy from BioNTech. The remarks currently made public do not clarify what, if any, role the American company Pfizer has had in the ongoing negotiations.
Beijing wants to force Taiwan to buy Chinese vaccine candidate doses, which have been rated far less effective than Western shots and might be even less effective than laboratory trials suggest, given the dismaying experience of countries that relied on Chinese products for their vaccination drives.
Taiwan angrily rejected the latest sales pitch from Beijing on Monday, insisting it does not trust the Chinese products, has not been able to obtain adequate data from the opaque Chinese government to properly evaluate them, and remains furious over China blocking Taiwan from membership in the World Health Organization (W.H.O.).
The BBC on Thursday noted there is pressure on Tsai to relent and accept China’s offered vaccines as cases in Taiwan mount. As Professor Steve Tsang of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies put it, China cannot lose in the current showdown and Taiwan cannot win; if Tsai accepts Chinese medicine, it will look as if Beijing can take better care of the Taiwanese people than the United States or their own government, but if she refuses and infections keep spreading, it looks like Tsai is putting politics ahead of public health — the very attack the Global Times pressed in its Thursday editorial.
On Friday, Taipei relaxed the rules for importing vaccines, inviting local agencies and businesses to purchase vaccines with the approval of Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration. Tsai’s administration previously rejected such requests for authorization to buy vaccines.
At least three Taiwanese county governments have announced plans to buy Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines through Fosun Pharmaceutical in Shanghai, as has Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Foxconn Technology Group and one of Taiwan’s richest businessmen.
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