The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday filed a lawsuit against Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) alleging corruption in the decision to issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Medigen Vaccine Biologic Corp (高端疫苗生物製劑).
The FDA had bypassed standard procedures and, in broad defiance of public and international opinion, decided to approve the vaccine, the KMT said.
Citing FDA data, KMT caucus secretary-general Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said that Medigen started producing vaccines last month, before it received the EUA, which is evidence that the company was given assurances that its vaccine would be approved and made available for use by next month.
Photo: CNA
“We have become the only nation to approve an EUA for a vaccine that has not passed phase 3 clinical trials,” Cheng said.
Medigen yesterday said that it had received approval to conduct phase 3 clinical trials on 1,000 people in Paraguay.
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) cited the vaccine approval process in the US, saying that the process is recorded and that its review processes are transparent.
Taiwan, on the other hand, had not recorded the review process, he said, adding that the public does not know who attended the meeting, or what kind of opposition was voiced.
“We have set the lowest bar for vaccine approval worldwide,” Chiang said.
KMT Disciplinary Committee director Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元), who is the party’s legal representative, said that the procedures to approve domestic vaccines went against past practice, despite Taiwan having access to international vaccines and having no immediate need for them.
The FDA was guilty of corruption as it forced through the approval of the EUA by replacing half of the academics on the panel of specialists, Yeh said.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party caucus secretary-general Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that the legislature would declassify and make public the minutes of the specialists’ meeting within two weeks.
At the specialists’ meeting, 18 members voted to approve the vaccine, one voted for further discussion after asking for more information and one voted to not approve the vaccine, Wu said on Monday, adding that the convener of the meeting was not allowed to vote.
Under the EUA, the company must provide a safety report every month, she said.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS