TSMC and Foxconn say Reuters are in the process of signing BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines

By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s TSMC and Foxconn said on Sunday they were in the middle of a contract signing process to buy COVID-19 vaccines from Germany’s BioNTech SE (NASDAQ :), part of a highly politicized and highly politicized process to enter Taiwan. shot.

The Taiwanese government has been trying for months to buy the vaccine directly from BioNTech and has blamed China, which claims the self-governing island as its territory, for canceling the agreement the two sides were supposed to sign earlier this year. China denies the allegations.

Last month, in the face of public pressure from the slow pace of Taiwan’s inoculation program, the government agreed to allow Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwan’s Foxconn, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to trade on behalf of vaccines. It would be given to the Taiwanese government for distribution.

“There are multiple parties. We are in the middle of the contract signing process. We will make notifications when the process is complete,” TSMC said in a statement.

Foxcon used almost exactly the same spelling in a separate statement. Not even practiced.

Both companies are major suppliers to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ :).

BioNTech and Fosun did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for Gou said: “When there is more news, we will formally explain it to the outside world.” He gave no details.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang would only say that talks on the vaccine are ongoing.

“Once we get the final result, we will naturally give it to everyone.”

A source informed of the matter told Reuters that the contract talks were “not yet 100% complete”, and another source said that while they were close to concluding the deal, there were uncertainties.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that it is not the Taiwan side that is making it difficult to sign the contract,” the second source said, citing the extra “obstacles” placed by Beijing.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to calls for comment outside of business hours on Sunday.

FOSUN CONTRACT

Gou and TSMC reached an initial agreement this month with a subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd, which has a contract with BioNTech to sell COVID-19 vaccines in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, sources told Reuters .

Gou and TSMC both seek 5 million doses.

The drama of the BioNTech vaccine has swept Taiwan and the headlines have prevailed. A major Taiwanese Buddhist group, the Tzu Chi Foundation, is also trying to buy jointly developed plans Pfizer (NYSE :).

The Chinese government has repeatedly said that if Taiwan wants the vaccine, it must respect trade rules and do so through Fosun.

The German government has also been involved, saying it is assisting in direct talks between Taiwan and BioNTech.

Taiwan has millions of vaccines to apply for, most notably AstraZeneca (NASDAQ 🙂 Plc and Modern (NASDAQ 🙂 Inc., the United States and Japan have jointly donated nearly five million doses to help the island accelerate vaccinations.

One-tenth of Taiwan’s 23.5 million population has received at least one of the two shooting regimes, although Taiwan’s relatively small incidence of coronary artery disease is under control.