(Adds Taiwanese official seeking U.S. and EU help)
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI, May 26 (Reuters) - Taiwan directly accused China for
the first time on Wednesday of blocking a deal with Germany's
BioNTech SE for COVID-19 vaccines, in an escalating
war of words after Beijing offered the shots to the island via a
Chinese company.
Taiwan has millions of shots on order, from AstraZeneca Plc
and Moderna Inc, but has received only slightly
more than 700,000 to date, and has only been able to vaccinate
about 1% of its population as COVID-19 cases surge.
While Taiwan has previously said it had been unable to sign
a final contract with BioNTech, it had only implied that Chinese
pressure was to blame.
China claims Taiwan as its territory and frequently puts
pressure on countries and firms to curtail their dealings with
the island.
President Tsai Ing-wen told a meeting of her ruling
Democratic Progressive Party that orders for the AstraZeneca and
Moderna shots had been "smoothly" booked.
"As for Germany's BioNTech, we were close to completing the
contract with the original German plant, but because of China's
intervention, up to now there's been no way to complete it," she
said.
Taiwan, which has a population of more than 23 million
people, had bought nearly 30 million shots, Tsai said, without
giving details.
BioNTech, which sells its vaccine in partnership with Pfizer
Inc, declined to comment on Tsai's remarks, but added
"we are supportive of global vaccine supply".
China has denied trying to block vaccines for Taiwan and has
offered to provide them to the island as a goodwill gesture.
APPEALS FOR U.S., EU ASSISTANCE
Lily L.W. Hsu, secretary-general of Taiwan's Foreign
Ministry, called the Chinese offer "very divisive."
At an online event hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the
United States that also involved a U.S. and an EU official, Hsu
said Taiwan was developing its own vaccine, but the earliest
that would be ready for use was July. She repeated calls Taiwan
has made for U.S and EU assistance.
"Because of the recent outbreak we desperately need vaccines
... we do need assistance in getting vaccines before our
domestic vaccine is ready for use, she said.
The top U.S. diplomat in Taipei, Brent Christensen, said on
Wednesday he was confident Taiwan could control its spike in
COVID-19 cases, noting its infection numbers remained quite low.
He said the United States and Taipei were in talks on vaccines
but did not say shots were on the way.
China's Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd
said on Saturday it was willing to provide Taiwan
with BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines.
Fosun signed a deal with BioNTech to exclusively develop and
commercialise the vaccine developed using BioNTech's mRNA
technology in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
But Tsai said the island would only buy directly from the
original manufacturers, or discuss purchases with them via the
COVAX global vaccine sharing scheme.
"Only by negotiating with the original manufacturer can you
obtain the original manufacturer's direct guarantee and
responsibility for quality and safety, so as to avoid legal and
political risks," she said.
Fosun did not respond to requests for comment.
China's foreign ministry said Taiwan's channels to receive
vaccines from them were "smooth", while China's Taiwan Affairs
Office said Taipei was using excuses to stop the shots.
China was "happy to see" Fosun's willingness to provide
vaccines to Taiwan, the Chinese office added.
Several Taiwan politicians have said the need for the Fosun
shots was so urgent the government should bring them in.
But Taiwan's Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a daily
news briefing Taiwan had seen no supporting documentation about
Fosun's version of the vaccine.
"Bring out the official documents and we can talk about it
again."
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee in Taipei and David
Brunnstrom and Michael Martina in Washington; Editing by
Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel and Bill Berkrot)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
