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The U.S. will provide 750,000 Covid-19 vaccines to Taiwan, and said it will support the country after Taipei complained to Beijing that it has intervened in efforts to secure owners.
Announcement of a high-profile US visit to Taipei on Sunday by a group of U.S. senators arrived in Japan a few days later He has given 1.2m jab, Associates Taiwan with its first large-scale Covid outbreak.
The U.S. contribution to Taiwan is more than 10 percent of the 7m vaccine dose that Washington will provide to Asian and Pacific nations.
“It was very important for the United States to be included in the first group to receive Taiwan vaccines because we recognize your urgent need and value that cooperation,” said U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
Duckworth and two other senators arrived in Taipei on a U.S. Air Force transport plane from South Korea, the first U.S. military aircraft to land in Taiwan since the 1999 earthquake disaster.
Visiting U.S. delegations have avoided using Air Force aircraft since Washington moved diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and if Taipei refuses to submit definitively under its control, it will annex it. as a provocation to any U.S. military property on the island.
“They used an Air Force aircraft to emphasize that this mission is supported, supported or even coordinated with the administration,” a senior Taiwanese government official said. “The U.S. government wants to make sure people understand the importance of a short visit.”
Taiwanese health authorities announced 343 new cases on Sunday. Taipei was largely infected with coronavirus last year, but an outbreak that began in May has begun to spread to some electronics industry plants, the backbone of the country’s booming export sector.
The Taiwanese opposition has strongly criticized President Tsai Ing-wen’s government for its lack of vaccines. The government fears that China will try to use the health crisis to undermine social stability and turn the population against Tsai, who has accused Beijing of “plotting independence” with the help of the pandemic.
China has said it is ready to give vaccines to Taiwan, but has accused Taipei of Beijing of working to block efforts to get vaccines directly. China has also criticized the vaccine given to Taiwan in Japan.
Txai expressed his intention to fight the virus with countries other than China. “I am confident that in cooperation with the United States, Japan and other countries, Taiwan can overcome our current challenges and help advance our international disease prevention efforts to put all of us on the path to recovery,” he said. U.S. Senators.
Tsai said the message in favor of the two-party congress “once again shows a strong friendship between Taiwan and the United States.”
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