[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyungsoo] The Moderna vaccines that the United States provided free of charge to Taiwan will arrive on the afternoon of the 20th. Taiwan has been struggling as the number of new COVID-19 cases increases, but it had difficulty obtaining Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
According to major foreign media on the 20th, the U.S. government sent Taiwan 1.75 million doses of Moderna vaccines in addition to the 750,000 doses it had promised to support.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on Facebook the day before that the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which acts as the U.S. Embassy in Taiwan, is providing 2.5 million doses of vaccines from the U.S. government. She explained that three U.S. federal senators visited Taiwan and agreed to support 750,000 doses, and that through efforts by both the U.S. and Taiwan over the following two weeks, the number of supported vaccines increased.
President Tsai emphasized that Taiwan will closely cooperate with its allies to maintain regional peace and stability and to jointly combat the common enemy of humanity, the virus.
Locally in Taiwan, the vaccine support is interpreted as demonstrating the deepening relationship and the importance of partnership between the U.S. and Taiwan. When the U.S. promised to support vaccines to Taiwan, China opposed it, calling it a challenge to the "One China" principle.
The Taiwan government officially authorized private companies, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company TSMC and Foxconn founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), to negotiate the purchase of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. Taiwan tried to purchase vaccines directly, but China opposed, stating that purchases must go through its domestic pharmaceutical companies holding regional exclusive sales rights. Amid the global semiconductor supply shortage, there is interest in whether TSMC can leverage its increased influence to secure vaccines.
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