Surveys conducted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for internal reference have shown that most Taiwanese would refuse to take a vaccine made in China, a party source said yesterday.
A survey by the DPP last week showed that 86 percent of respondents would refuse a Chinese vaccine, the source said, adding that among them, 66 percent identified as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters.
A DPP survey conducted in February showed that 60 percent of respondents were unwilling to take a Chinese vaccine, while 30 percent were willing to.
China has attempted to use vaccines to further its “united front” efforts, with Chinese state-run media recently reporting that Pfizer-BioNTech’s Chinese partner, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group (上海復星醫藥集團), has obtained the right to market and distribute the BNT162b2 vaccine in Taiwan, China, Macau and Hong Kong, the source said.
However, Hong Kong on March 24 halted use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine distributed by Fosun after the company told the Hong Kong government that one batch of the vaccine had defective packaging.
Fosun’s supply of the vaccine is also reportedly set to expire at the end of next month.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) on Sunday criticized China for using the sale of vaccines as a “united front” tactic.
“China ceaselessly pressures Taiwan, but now it wants to appear benevolent — just as Taiwan is facing a worsening pandemic — by selling Taiwan vaccines with defective packaging that will expire soon,” he said.
Separately, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) yesterday criticized the KMT and the China Unification Promotion Party for exacerbating attempts by China to sow disorder in Taiwan by calling for imports of Chinese vaccines.
The two parties’ actions would hurt the government’s COVID-19 response measures, she said.
“We stand by efforts to protect the nation. I hope that some people making trouble do not cause the Central Epidemic Command Center to show even the slightest lenience,” she said.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
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