Taiwan has not yet reached a point where it can export masks to diplomatic allies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, dismissing as misinformation online reports that it gave away masks to curry favor with a diplomatic ally.
“Taiwan provides med-ical aid to diplomatic allies based upon specific circumstances,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said, adding that the supplements donated by Taiwan were all purchased locally in allied countries, in accordance with their needs.
“The time is not yet ripe” for Taiwan to export medical supplies, such as surgical masks, to diplomatic allies, until it is able to satisfy domestic demand, Wu said.
He was answering questions from reporters about reports that the ministry contravened the export ban by donating 100,000 masks to Paraguay, despite a domestic shortage.
The ministry on Saturday issued a statement rebutting the accusation, saying it had informed the authorities about the circulating misinformation.
Wu yesterday told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee that the masks Taiwan provided to Paraguay were purchased in other Latin American countries at US$0.4 each and were not made in Taiwan.
However, restricted by the limited output of manufacturers in that region, Taiwan was able to give only 100,000 — instead of 1 million — masks to help the pandemic-hit ally, he said.
Wu added that Taiwan is facing a serious diplomatic challenge from China, which had contacted Paraguay and offered to donate masks.
Because of China’s suppression and poaching of allies, Taiwan has only 15 diplomatic allies, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Taiwan imposed a provisional ban on mask exports in late January after it reported the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus infection.
The ban, which was to last until Feb. 23, has been extended to April 30. The government has also requisitioned masks nationwide.
Lawmakers also asked Wu about Taiwan’s mask agreement with the US in their joint efforts to combat COVID-19.
Under the joint statement signed on March 18 by Wu and American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen, the US promised to reserve raw materials for 300,000 medical protective suits for Taiwan, while Taiwan agreed to provide 100,000 masks per week to the US when its production capacity has stabilized.
Wu confirmed that it is a formal “government-to-government” statement, although there are no formal diplomatic ties between the two nations.
As for when Taiwan would begin to supply the US with 100,000 masks per week, Wu said the two sides are still discussing the details.
Besides, the US has not yet decided when it would begin shipments of raw materials for 300,000 medical protective suits for Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) said.
Taiwan needs 1 million medical protective suits and there are only two companies in the world — one in Japan and the other in the US — that produce key materials for the product, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said.
Although a Taiwanese company produces medical-grade cloth for protective suits, its output can only satisfy 10 percent of domestic demand, Wang said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as