Academia Sinica academician Chen Pei-jer (陳培哲), who on Monday resigned from the vaccine review committee, has been accused of working as an adviser for a Shanghai-based Chinese pharmaceutical company.
Chen was allegedly listed as a “scientific adviser” on the Web site of Zhimeng Biopharma Inc (上海摯盟醫藥科技公司) in Shanghai, China, while he served as a committee member, sources said yesterday.
If the claims are true, it could mean Chen had contravened the law restricting government officials and employees from undertaking concurrent jobs in China and other countries.
Photo courtesy of Chen Pei-jer
Chen is also a professor at state-funded National Taiwan University (NTU) and a medical researcher at NTU Hospital.
Chen yesterday said he was not in a paid position at the Chinese firm.
He showed a letter from Zhimeng Biopharma stating that Chen’s scientific adviser role is an honorary title without any responsibility, obligation or payment, and “purely scientific advancement.”
However, critics said Chen and the company were trying to cover up their ties.
When resigning from the committee, Chen accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of pressuring the body to expedite the approval of the MVC-COV1901 vaccine being developed by Medigen Vaccine Biologics.
Citing his reasons for resigning his post, Chen said he believed the committee would have trouble staying neutral when reviewing domestic vaccine candidates.
The main problem was Tsai, as she said a locally developed COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be available late next month, Chen said, insinuating that the Food and Drug Administration could not resist pressure from the president and would expedite the vaccine’s approval.
New Taipei City Councilor Ho Po-wen (何博文) of the Democratic Progressive Party yesterday accused Chen of working to benefit China by sabotaging Taiwan’s vaccine development efforts.
Ho presented documents allegedly showing that Chen had close ties with universities and biotechnology companies in China, including Xiamen University.
Ho also said that Chen timed his resignation and public accusations just before the completion of phase 2 clinical trials of the vaccine, with Medigen scheduled to announce results of human trials soon.
“Chen is undermining Taiwan’s own COVID-19 vaccine to prevent it from reaching production. In his position as a committee member and a medical expert, he is saying Medigen’s vaccine is doomed to failure, and it would not pass clinical trials,” Ho said.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
STREAMLINED: The dedicated funding would allow the US to transfer equipment to Taiwan when needed and order upgraded replacements for stockpiles, a source said The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defense appropriations bill totaling US$838.7 billion, of which US$1 billion is to be allocated to reinforcing security cooperation with Taiwan and US$150 million to replace defense articles provided to the nation. These are part of the Consolidated Appropriation Act, which the US House yesterday passed with 341 votes in favor and 88 against. The act must be passed by the US Senate before Friday next week to avoid another government shutdown. The US House Committee on Appropriations on Monday unveiled the act, saying that it allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative
RSS